Unforgivable
by ladia2287
Summary: Alysia Snape hates her older brother Severus, and with good reason, too. As war approaches at alarming speed, both must learn to cast their differences aside, but can Alysia ever trust her brother again? And what did Severus do that was so unforgivable?
1. Prologue

_Everyone has always assumed that Harry Potter was the 'Chosen One', that destiny had hand-picked him to destroy the most evil wizard of all time. Even I believed it. It was a fair assumption, but it was also one based on a severe lack of understanding. I was shocked to discover that the truth was something completely different, but then again, so was Lord Voldemort..._

**Prologue**

"Come on Alysia, you'll be late!" a voice behind me drawled lazily. I spun around to see my older brother lounging in my bedroom doorway, feigning a look of slight boredom. I rolled my eyes and turned back to the mirror. I pretended to ignore him as I checked to make sure I didn't have any lipstick on my teeth for what must have been the millionth time that minute.

Okay, I'll admit that I'm a little obsessed with my appearance, but it's only because I'm not drop-dead gorgeous like my best friend, Lily. I've always been very conscious about how I look, especially since my second year at school, when a certain group of boys started making fun of me all the time.

"Alysia, at this rate, you won't get there until the kid starts school!" my brother exclaimed, frustrated.

"Okay, Sev, calm down! I'm almost ready," I told him.

"Just like you were almost ready half an hour ago?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

"You're just jealous because Lily didn't invite you!" I retorted childishly. My brother frowned and stormed off downstairs.

Uh-oh. I definitely shouldn't have said that. My brother never likes it when I remind him that Lily hates his guts.

Right, I probably should explain.

My name is Alysia Snape. I'm a nineteen-year-old metamorphmagus, currently living with my parents and my brother, Severus. He's two years older than I am. We both have the same straight, slightly greasy black hair, but that is where any similarities in our appearance end.

Severus' hair is about shoulder-length, whereas mine is at least three times longer. He is also two and a half inches taller than I am. My brother's unusual black eyes and hooked nose make him look quite sinister, although he isn't really (at least not unless he is very annoyed). My eyes are slightly wider than his are and are a very pale blue. When we were little, Dad used to call me _Angelique_, because all our relatives used to say that I looked like a miniature angel. It was a nickname I hated, and still hate, with a passion.

Not far from our house used to live a girl called Lily Evans. She and Severus first met years ago, before they even started school, and our families became quite close, though I always privately thought that her sister was a stuck-up little…

But where was I? That's right; Lily and Severus started hanging out together. Though they were Sorted into rival Houses at school, they were best friends; at least, they were until their OWLs came up.

Severus was being teased by a couple of boys in his year. Lily tried to stand up for him, and Severus called her a, well, let's just say he said something that really upset her. I happen to know for a fact that Lily is still reeling from it. Severus has tried apologising loads of times, but Lily won't listen. That's why Severus is upset now, I guess. It doesn't exactly help that I almost constantly remind him of the fact that Lily is permanently ignoring his existence (accidentally, of course). Quite frankly, family loyalty and everything aside, I don't blame her. I probably wouldn't want to know someone either if they called me a, well, what Severus called Lily that day.

Sighing, I smoothed out my dress and went downstairs. My parents were waiting for me; knowing Dad, he'll probably come up to my room and kick my door down if I don't come out soon.


	2. Imperio

**A/N: Hmm. Either no one was able to guess what Severus does that Alysia won't be able to forgive him for, or else you were, but weren't brave enough to say. Never mind. Those cameos I promised are still available, so when the time comes, I'll probably pick out someone who has left a review or something.**

**BTW: I am aware that in the Prologue Alysia seemed slightly cliched and - dare I say it - Mary-Sueish, but please don't let that turn you away. This still promises to be a great story.**

**Well, I guess I better let you read it now. I daresay I've kept you all in suspense long enough :P**

**Chapter One**

**Imperio**

"We're here," Dad said grumpily as the car pulled up in front of a brick townhouse.

As quickly as I could, I undid my seatbelt and leapt out of the car, almost forgetting the parcel on the seat next to me.

"Alysia!" Severus called sulkily. I spun around and saw him push the parcel towards the car door. I hurriedly bent forwards to pick it up, waved goodbye and raced excitedly up the steps toward the door.

Once I had heard the car leave, I rang the doorbell. When no one answered after about five seconds, I rang it again. Finally, the door opened and I was greeted by a man with scruffy jet-black hair and glasses. It was Lily's husband, James Potter. The only thing I didn't like about him was that he was always insulting Severus whenever he thought I wasn't listening, but that's okay, I guess. James and Severus have always hated each other, and I mean, they _really_ hated each other!

"Well hello, Alysia," he said with a mischievous smile as he stepped aside to let me in. I grinned broadly as I passed him.

"Hi James," I replied.

"Come right through. Sirius and Remus are already here. Everyone's out in the back garden," he said, showing me the way.

I found myself staring around in wonder. James and Lily had bought this house a couple of months before, but this was the first time I had actually visited. It's rude to stare, I know, but I can't help it. It's almost like I have a, what do muggles sometimes call it again? That's right, a genetic predisposition to staring. Severus always used to tell me off over it.

Anyway, I had never been to James and Lily's house before, so of course I was curious! Actually, it was a very nice house. Most of the interior walls had been painted a pale green colour. It sort of reminded me a little of peppermint. The back door was a lovely oak, with an old fashioned brass knob.

"Alysia!" Lily cried happily. On her knee was a slightly chubby toddler with jet-black hair and green eyes.

"Hi Lily," I greeted, grinning as I approached her. "He's grown so much!" I exclaimed as I set the parcel down next to two others. Presumably, one was from Remus and the other from Sirius. Lily nodded softly.

"He may still be small, but he's inherited his father's love of mischief, alright," I heard Sirius say behind me. I spun around and gave my fiance a warm smile. "Lily was just telling me James left his wand on the chair again last night. Little Harry here apparently decided to have some fun with it, and managed to ignite the carpet," he finished, greeting me with his usual sheepish grin.

"Ugh! Don't get me started on that again!" Lily exclaimed, making a face. "How many times do I have to remind James not to leave his wand lying around?"

"At least twenty times a day, and he still does it!" Sirius and Remus chorused in reply, grinning. I found it hard to suppress a giggle, especially as James was now turning beetroot red. Fortunately, he was saved any further embarrassment, at least for the moment, as the doorbell rang again. James went to answer it as Sirius and Remus exploded with laughter.

James took a long time at the door. After several minutes, Sirius and Remus had finally stopped laughing and still James hadn't reappeared. Lily was starting to look a little concerned. Finally, the mystery was solved as we heard shouting from the doorway.

"I don't give a damn what excuse you have for being here, _Snivellus_! You are not entering my house!" we heard James yell.

I cringed as I could feel Lily, Sirius and Remus turn to stare at me in surprise. It was Severus. Really, he gets on my nerve sometimes!

"I'll go see what he wants," I said quietly as I followed the din out to the front garden.

"She's my sister, Potter, and if I want to talk to her, I will!" I heard Severus shout angrily. I paused, surprised. What was so urgent that it couldn't wait until I got home? Taking a deep breath, I stepped outside and saw Severus and James glaring at one another, wands at each other's throats.

"Hey!" I called, hurrying forward and forcing Severus' wand arm down. "I don't think Lily would be very happy if you two killed each other in the middle of Harry's birthday party!"

Both men relaxed slightly and put their wands away. I breathed an enormous sigh of relief. If there was one thing both James and Severus had in common, it was that neither of them liked seeing Lily upset.

Turning to James, I said, "You go back inside. I'll talk to Severus." James looked like he was going to argue, but I glared at him, and he obeyed. He knew that look; it was the look I used to give classmates whenever they'd made me mad enough to hex them. As James slammed the door behind himself, I turned and glared at my brother.

"What is so darn urgent, Sev?" I demanded angrily. "Surely even you can imagine the looks Lily and Sirius gave me when we realised it was you at the door!"

Severus stared blankly at me for a whole minute. Honestly, was he _trying_ to push my patience to the limit?

"For goodness sake, Severus, just tell me what's going on! I doubt James would be willing to let you stay on his property for much longer!" I said, exasperated.

I noticed that Severus was starting to rock ever so slightly. Okay, now I was beginning to get worried.

"What is it, Sev?" I demanded again, grabbing his shoulders in a vain effort to steady him.

Opening his mouth, he scarcely more than muttered, "It's Him again."

I backed away. "Oh, no. We've been through this before, Severus. There is about as much chance of me joining Voldemort as there is of Lily leaving James and running off with you!" I exclaimed.

"No, Aly, listen," he pleaded. I rolled my eyes. Severus joined the so-called 'Death Eaters' just after James and Lily were married, and _apparently_ Voldemort had been begging Severus to convince me to join ever since. Right now, the only thing preventing me from turning my back on Severus and rejoining the party was the annoying fact that my brother had just grabbed my arm.

"He summoned me just after you were dropped off. He said that if you don't agree, he'll go after Mum!" he told me.

For a few seconds, I didn't believe him. Then, as I stared at the desperate look on his face, I realised Severus was telling the truth. My hand flew to my mouth in horror. Both of us love Mum more than anyone else could imagine, and we'd do almost anything for her. I guess that's why Lord High-and-Mighty Voldemort thought this threat would work on me. Yeah, right!

"Sev, we have to go to Dumbledore!" I said fiercely.

"What?" Severus asked, stunned. I tutted impatiently.

"You heard. We need help, Sev. We really should tell Dumbledore what's going on. If anyone can help us, he can," I repeated calmly. Severus turned away angrily.

"Don't you get it, Alysia? If we go running to Dumbledore, I'll get accused of treachery and we'll _all_ end up being killed!"

"Better to be killed by Voldemort than to be arrested by an Auror!" I retorted. My brother frustrates me so much sometimes. _I_ for one had no desire to end up in Azkaban. Severus just narrowed his eyes at me.

"So basically, you don't care if he goes after Mum or Dad, or me, so long as you are safe in the knowledge that everyone else in the world will think that you did the right thing!" he practically shouted. "You are honestly the most stubborn, _selfish_ witch I've ever met!"

I recoiled at his harsh words. "You think _I'm_ selfish! I'm not the one who signed up to the Death Eaters just because I was feeling sorry for myself! I'm not the one who gatecrashed Lily's eighteenth birthday party to try and talk her into breaking off her engagement with James! I'M NOT THE ONE WHO CALLED MY BEST FRIEND A YOU-KNOW-WHAT AND THEN EXPECTED HER TO ACT LIKE I HADN'T DONE ANYTHING WRONG!" I yelled, so loud they could probably hear me in London, but I didn't care.

"I take it your answer is 'no', then?" he asked quietly. I folded my arms and glared at him.

"Same as always," I replied tartly. I failed to notice that he had pulled his wand out again.

"Sorry sis, but family comes first," he murmured, raising his arm.

My eyes widened in fear as I realised what my brother was about to do. I tried to run back into the house but it was too late. I heard Severus mutter the word 'Imperio', and then everything went black.

**A/N: Well, there you go. I hope that pleases a little more than the Prologue did.**

**Just one more thing. There is one _tiny_ detail I haven't decided on yet, and I need to decide, because it gets a couple of mentions later on. Which House do you think Alysia might have been in at school? Please help me, because Alysia is such a complex character that I really can't choose on my own :)**


	3. Crime and Punishment

**Chapter Two**

**Crime and Punishment**

I cannot be sure how long I was under the influence of my brother's Imperius Curse. I have absolutely no idea what he made me do in that time, but I do know that the first thing I remember seeing was an oddly-shaped scar on my arm, disturbingly similar to a Dark Mark. I also remember that Sirius no longer wanted anything to do with me, a fact which stunned me at first.

"Stay away from me, Alysia!" I remember him yelling spitefully at me. As you might imagine, I was more than a little surprised.

"What's wrong, Sirius?" I had asked him, bewildered.

"Don't you think you've done enough damage?" he shouted angrily before pushing roughly past me, a disgusted look on his face. I stared after him, completely stunned. Part of me wanted to run after him, to demand an explanation, but I just wasn't brave enough. Instead, I turned the other way and ran as tears began streaming down my cheeks. It was official. My heart was broken.

I was arrested soon after that; just minutes later, in fact. I was never actually told what I had done, only that I was charged with 'supporting a known Dark Wizard'. I remember seeing Severus in the courtroom, but I gave no sign that I was aware of his presence. I didn't even bother telling the court that I had been under the Imperius Curse; Severus probably would have just denied it anyway, and besides, what was the point?

As the trial dragged on, I heard snippets of gossip and rumour about some of the things that had happened. I was mortified to learn that James and Lily were dead! When I plucked up the courage to ask someone what had become of little Harry, I was told that nobody knew for sure, but the rumour was that he had gone to live with his mother's muggle sister.

It took me several days to digest that bit of news. Petunia had absolutely _despised_ Lily; there is no way that snobbish tart would have agreed willingly to take Harry in, nephew or not. Poor kid; he was probably in for a pretty miserable life.

Once the Wizengamot had heard all the witnesses, it took them mere seconds to convict me. The sentence; Life in Azkaban. Just great, I thought. Who wouldn't want to spend the rest of their natural lives surrounded by Dementors for a crime they can't even remember?

Severus never spoke up on my behalf. I had heard that he was under Dumbledore's protection, so admitting that he had used an Unforgivable Curse on his own sister would probably have ruined that. So much for 'family comes first'!

It was just my luck that my cell was going to be right next to Bellatrix Lestrange. I've never had much patience for that woman; I've never been able to understand how Severus could stand hanging out with her and her friends at school.

* * *

"He will return. He WILL!" Bellatrix shrieked excitedly for the tenth time in as many minutes. "Otherwise, why would our Marks be coming back?"

I closed my eyes. Thirteen years had passed since I had been hauled into that place. Thirteen long years of putting up with that woman in such close proximity. My patience ran out quite regularly.

"Bellatrix, for goodness sake WILL YOU SHUT UP!" I shouted angrily. "Nobody else wants to hear about how much you're in love with Voldemort!"

I heard her make a gagging noise. Evidently, she had momentarily forgotten that I was there. Again.

"I wonder how quickly _you_ will be going back to him when he returns?" she asked sweetly. It's a good thing she couldn't see me, because I was now making a rude gesture in her general direction.

"I won't be!" I said scathingly. I could hear Rodolphus gasp, but I didn't care.

"I guess _dear_ Sevy will have to take the fall for you then," Bellatrix replied. The false sweetness in her voice was sickening. I shrugged my shoulders.

"Let him. What the Hell do I care?" I declared venomously. "Now SHUT UP!"

"Have I upset you, _Angelique_?" she asked in that same, disgusting tone. Honestly, there were so many times when Bellatrix was lucky neither of us were allowed wands, and that was one of them.

"I SAID SHUT YOUR MOUTH, LESTRANGE!" I roared. "AND DON'T YOU DARE CALL ME ANGELIQUE!" I could hear Rodolphus' brother, Rabastan, gasp in pain.

"Geez, Alysia! Way to make me hit my head on the ceiling again!" he called from a cell at the other end of the Block. If anyone else had said that, it would have triggered a three-hour hissy fit, but I never did seem able to get angry with Rabastan. I guess I kind of felt sorry for him; Rodolphus used to bully him mercilessly in school. I kind of get the feeling that if Rodolphus had left his brother alone, then Rabastan might have turned out to be a decent wizard.

Alright. I'll admit it. I used to have a crush on Rabastan, okay? I was only a Third-Year at the time, and Rabastan was one year above me. He tutored me in Ancient Runes, and he _was_ kind of good looking, but anyway, the _point_ is, I was sure that Rabastan was a good person underneath all that 'Purebloods are royalty' crap.

So many times in that place, I just _prayed_ for the Dementors to hurry up and Kiss me. An eternity without a soul would have been preferable to another minute stuck listening to that insane woman.

A few days after that particularincident, I noticed the Dementors weren't patrolling our block as often as they usually did. It was odd, seeing as we were considered maximum-security prisoners. After a week, they were only patrolling once a day. It was then that I seized my chance. I snuck out of my cell when the door was opened to let my food in, and made a run for it. As soon as I reached the cliff-edge on which Azkaban was built, I knew I had been successful.

Summoning every ounce of courage I had, I jumped, aiming as far away from the rocks as I could. The moment I hit the water, I could feel a sense of freedom; I had made it. The rest of my escape would not be difficult; I knew that the Dementors would not think to search the water for several hours, and that they would give up quickly. I was a strong swimmer and I knew I had plenty of time.

* * *

"Are you okay, madam?" a smartly dressed man called to me from a car. I was waiting at a bus stop.

"Sorry?" I asked, faintly confused and slightly paranoid; if there was any chance of that man recognising me, I would end up being chucked right back into Azkaban again.

"The bus doesn't run past here anymore. Did you need a lift somewhere?" the man asked politely.

I decided to accept. The man seemed friendly enough. Besides, I didn't want to look like an idiot.

"Thanks, that would be great. I need to get to Kings Cross Station," I said graciously. The man turned to a bushy-haired teenage girl sitting in the back seat.

"Hermione, open the door, will you," he said. Hermione sighed impatiently and let me in, before turning resolutely back to the enormous book she was reading.

"Hermione, don't be rude," the man scolded, before turning to me, an apologetic look on his face.

"Sorry, my daughter's a bit of a book-aholic. She doesn't like being disturbed when she's reading," he explained. I smiled.

"That's alright, Mr, er," I said awkwardly. The man looked slightly embarrassed.

"Granger. Jonathon Granger," he said, turning slightly pink. I smiled warmly, trying to put him at ease; he seemed a little uptight about manners.

"I don't suppose _you_ have a name?" Hermione asked in a bossy sort of voice. I suppressed a giggle as Mr Granger rolled his eyes.

"How silly of me. My name's Alysia," I said, trying to pretend I had momentarily forgotten my manners. Hermione just raised her eyebrows.

"Do you have a surname, Alysia?" she asked.

I hesitated. I had no way of knowing whether Hermione and Mr Granger were muggles. If they weren't, then no doubt they would scream for the Auror Department the moment I told them who I was; I seriously doubted my escape from Azkaban had not been publicised. I eventually decided to give my mother's maiden name.

"Prince. Alysia Prince," I replied awkwardly.

Hermione seemed satisfied. With a polite smile, she went back to her book. Relieved that I had passed the first test of my freedom, I spent the duration of the drive looking out the window.

**A/N: Well, thanks for reading. Not completely happy with this chapter, but I was kind of eager to get to the point, and I couldn't come up with anything better. Please review (pretty please?)**

**Next Chapter: Alysia asks Dumbledore for help, and runs into Severus. How will their first meeting in thirteen years go? Ah, but you'll have to wait to find out (at least until I am ready to upload it) :P**


	4. Crucio

**A/N: Phew! This chapter wasn't easy to write, I can tell you that. Enjoy :D**

**Chapter Three**

**Crucio**

I was startled by a loud crack behind me. I whipped my head around and saw Albus Dumbledore standing behind me, an awful look of anger on his face. Swallowing hard, I stood and faced him.

"Professor, thank you for seeing me," I said hesitantly. I was hopeful that a positive outcome could be achieved from our meeting, but that hope melted rapidly under his cold stare.

"What do you want?" he demanded quietly. I blinked.

"I am desperate, and I had hoped that you would assist me, sir," I replied nervously. Albus Dumbledore's gaze softened for a moment, but it hardened again before he asked his next question.

"What assistance could you possibly require from me?" he asked coldly.

Hesitating, I explained, "Professor, I have no recollection of my life from Harry's first birthday party to the day before I was arrested. I have no idea what terrible things I may have done in that time; a fact I have agonised over for many years. I need to know what happened to me." I had decided not to mention the _reason_ that I couldn't remember what had happened.

At first, I expected him to turn his back on me. I was a former Death Eater, after all. Why would the founder of the Order of the Phoenix want to do anything to help a Death Eater? I was surprised, therefore, when he consented.

"I suppose you have as much right as the next person to that request," he said quietly, surveying me over his half-moon glasses. After a few seconds, he sighed and turned away. I called him back. I had just one, small favour to ask.

"I understand that you see Severus often," I said. When Dumbledore nodded curtly, I added, "He cannot know about any of this."

Professor Dumbledore smiled slightly and nodded. I took that to mean that he understood. It was no secret, after all, that Severus and I were estranged, even if nobody knew the reason why.

"I will contact you in due course, Miss Snape," he said, before he turned away and Disapparated. Breathing a sigh of relief, I, too, turned and left.

* * *

As I sat by the bar of the Three Broomsticks, I was surprised to see a large number of teenagers converge on the place. I turned to the barmaid, Madam Rosmerta, who did not seem at all surprised. To the contrary, she turned to a Kitchen-hand and told him to bring out more Butterbeer.

Looking around, I saw that several of the teenagers seemed to be wearing Hogwarts robes. Of course, I realised. It must be a Hogsmeade weekend. My attention was drawn to a fifteen-year-old boy with painfully familiar jet-black hair, green eyes and round glasses. It would not have taken a genius to recognise him.

Harry Potter was the exact image of his father, except for the eyes. They were the same colour that Lily's had been. I gasped as I realised that the girl with him was the same girl whose father I had hitched a ride to Kings Cross with a few months before. I hastily pulled a small compact out of my bag.

Staring at my hair, which was now a deep red, and my eyes, which I had changed to a chocolate brown, I was satisfied that no one could recognise me from my face alone. Bracing myself, I looked up, to find that they had sat down mere metres away from where I was. Their heads were bent over a copy of the Daily Prophet. I could just hear Harry mutter, "They still haven't caught that Snape woman yet."

I sighed. Another article. Weaving my way through the crowd, I came to rest next to him. Being sure to change my voice and accent slightly, so that Hermione wouldn't recognise it, I asked, "Begging your pardon, but I don't suppose I could borrow that for a moment?"

Harry looked slightly surprised to see me there. After glancing at Hermione for a moment, he nodded and passed the paper to me. I frowned as I read the article in front of me.

_ESCAPED DEATH EATER STILL AT LARGE_

_Ministry sources report that they have had absolutely no success in locating escaped Death Eater Alysia Snape, despite rumours that the witch recently requested a meeting with Professor Albus Dumbledore. If there is any truth to these rumours, then one must wonder why Professor Dumbledore failed to report the contact to authorities._

_Alysia's brother Severus Snape, now Potions Master at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, has repeatedly declined to comment on the subject of his sister's escape from Azkaban. He maintains that he has had absolutely no contact with her since her escape, and has no idea where she might be._

Sighing, I passed the newspaper back to Harry, thanking him quietly before I made my way out into the street. I could feel my insides boiling as I spotted Severus a few yards away, speaking to a witch I didn't recognise, at least at first. As I approached, I realised with rage exactly who she was.

"How does it make you feel, knowing that your _sister_, a convicted Death Eater, is on the run?" she asked in the same falsely sweet voice Bellatrix had used often. It was Rita Skeeter.

"I have no comment," Severus murmured coldly. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I had no intention of spending my day surrounded by reporters."

I followed my brother discreetly as he stormed off. Years of anger at what he had done to me were rising to the surface, and right now I felt like nothing would be more satisfying than making him suffer. As he foolishly turned down a narrow alley, I allowed my hair and face to change back to normal.

"Good afternoon, Severus," I said quietly. He spun around, a stunned look on his face.

"Alysia! What on Earth…" he began, startled.

"What? Aren't you pleased to see your little sister after so _many_ years?" I taunted, pulling a wand out and pointing it squarely at his chest. Severus' eyes widened.

"Alysia, how did you get that back?" he asked quietly, turning pale. I laughed silently at the distress in his voice.

"How do you think? It isn't all that difficult to break into the Ministry's Wand Room. Once I had gotten out of Azkaban, getting my wand back was easy!" I told him. I could see that Severus was beginning to get anxious.

"Alysia, please put that wand away," he pleaded, not taking his eyes off it. His voice trembled as he said it.

"Oh, I don't think I will, Severus. You see, I find it _very_ difficult to trust you now. I'm afraid that if I let my guard down around you again, we might see a repeat of what you did to me on James' and Lily's doorstep all those years ago," I said, allowing a cruel smile to form on my lips. I laughed as Severus backed away nervously.

"Don't worry, Severus. I have absolutely no intention of telling anyone. See, unlike you, I actually have some tiny glimmer of conscience when it comes to my family. Despite what you did, I wouldn't want to send my own flesh and blood to Azkaban, _especially_ having spent time there myself. All thanks to you, of course," I murmured. My brother's eyes narrowed.

"What do you intend to do to me, then?" he asked fearfully.

I considered him for a moment. Tightening my grip on my wand, I muttered a curse I had been determined never to use, at least until my arrest.

"Crucio," I said quietly. It was immensely satisfying to watch my brother writhing in pain. For once, I was glad I had been forced to live mere feet away from Bellatrix Lestrange for so many years. Whenever she wasn't harping on about her eternal loyalty to Voldemort, she was proudly lecturing about how to perform Unforgivable Curses.

After several minutes, I stopped the curse. Stepping forward, I stashed my wand away before kneeling over Severus, who lay senseless on the ground.

"I trust you will be discreet about our little _discussion_, dear brother. Otherwise, I might change my mind about not turning you in," I murmured coldly, before stepping over him and continuing back onto the High Street.

**There you have it. Alysia finally has a taste of revenge. I was originally going to make her wait a bit longer, but I just couldn't torture myself like that ;) If you like what you've read so far, please review. If you hate it, review anyway (Please?)**

**Next Chapter: Dumbledore convinces Alysia to join the Order of the Phoenix, but neglects to mention one _tiny_ but very important detail; something that will make her very angry indeed. Stay tuned to find out what that is :D**


	5. The Order of the Phoenix

**Chapter Four**

**The Order of the Phoenix**

Almost a week had passed since the run-in with Severus before I received a letter from Dumbledore, requesting that I come to his office that night. I obeyed, first of all ensuring that no one, not even Severus, could have recognised me if I met them on the way.

As I approached the door to Dumbledore's office, a feeling of dread washed over me. What if this was a trap? Could there be Aurors behind that door, waiting for me? It took me a whole two minutes to work up enough courage to place my hand on the doorknob, and a minute more to open the door.

Albus Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk, a solemn look on his face. He seemed to be reading something. I cleared my throat nervously.

The Headmaster looked up. With a polite smile, he motioned for me to sit down. I did so, wondering what information he could be about to present to me.

"Miss Snape, I have here a letter which I believe to have been written by Igor Karkaroff during his brief stay in Azkaban. It was found in his cell quite recently, hidden under some loose floor tiles. I think you have a right to read its contents for yourself," he said heavily, passing me a short piece of parchment. Slightly puzzled, I bent my head to read it.

_This is with regards to a matter concerning a young witch named Alysia Snape who, it distressed me greatly to learn, has been arrested as a Death Eater._

_I was present at Alysia's induction into the ranks of the Death Eaters, and I can assure any who read this that I am convinced it was not her wish to be a part of that ceremony. It is my conclusion that she was forced by someone else to attend the occasion. It is even likely that she was under the Imperius Curse._

I glanced up at Dumbledore, feeling slightly confused. So many questions began to form in my mind. If this had been in Karkaroff's cell all this time, then why hadn't it been found until now? Why hadn't he come forward in person after his release? And there was still the question that had plagued me ever since the Imperius Curse had lifted: What had I done in that time?

"As you may have guessed, Miss Snape, if that letter is indeed authentic, it officially clears your name," Dumbledore told me solemnly. I swallowed hard as the old man looked at me over his glasses. I looked hopefully at him as he told me, "You must join the Order of the Phoenix, Alysia. If the statements of this letter are indeed true, then someone close to Lord Voldemort has a great deal to hide."

I gulped. I thought I knew exactly who that someone was. However, I did not say so. The very thought that Severus might come after me made my blood boil. With a steely determination, I nodded my consent. The old professor looked somewhat relieved.

"You will find Order Headquarters at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, London. I will inform you of the specifics of the next meeting. Good luck, Alysia."

I took that to mean that I was dismissed. Grateful, I bid goodnight before turning and walking out the door.

I was extremely nervous as I stood waiting at the door to Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. It was to be my first meeting. It would also be the first time I would see Sirius since I was first sent to Azkaban. My heart pounded in my chest as I recalled our last conversation, if you could really call it that.

Professor Dumbledore had asked me to arrive at Headquarters after everyone else, and to wait on the doorstep until he let me in. He explained that, according to protocol, I could not enter the meeting until my membership was finalised. I daresay that was a polite way of telling me that he wanted to warn other members of my arrival in the hope of avoiding a scene.

I was pulled out of my thoughts as the door opened. Albus had come to let me in at last.

"Ready, Miss Snape?" he asked me. Trying my best to calm my nerves, I replied, "Ready as I'll ever be, I guess."

With a polite smile, he motioned for me to follow him, along a long hallway and into the kitchen, where at least twenty witches and wizards were already seated. Several of them gasped loudly and some even began whispering to each other, which was fine. I hadn't exactly expected a welcome party. However, there was one reaction for which I had not been prepared.

"Alysia! What in Merlin's name are you doing here?" said a voice that could be non other than Severus himself. I had not even known that my brother was in the Order. The sight of him made me incredibly mad.

"I'm here because Professor Dumbledore invited me, _Snivellus_!" I retorted furiously. "Not that it's any of your concern!" I saw Sirius glaring at me as though he would like nothing better than to curse me into oblivion. No doubt this was going to be an eventful evening.

Albus stared between Severus and I, clearly unable to understand why we were so hostile to one another. I sank into my seat, sulking childishly.

Oh, how pleasant would it have been to announce his treacherous behaviour in front of everyone there, if only for the satisfaction of seeing the look on his face. However, I held my tongue, barely speaking at all until Severus made one smart comment too many.

"How comforting, Sirius. I'm sure Potter will go down in history as a fugitive, just like his godfather," he said.

I'd had enough. All evening I'd had to endure Sirius and Severus making snide remarks at each other.

"Shut your mouth, Severus!" I yelled angrily, getting to my feet. I could feel the eyes of everyone present staring at me, but I didn't care.

Professor Dumbledore sighed. "Perhaps we should leave it here for now," he said. Apparently, that meant the meeting had ended, as people were hastily putting papers away and getting to their feet. Turning on my heel, I made my way to the door. I was sure that if I had to endure Severus' presence for a moment longer, I would almost certainly have cursed him again.

"Alysia, dear," a voice called from behind me. I spun around and saw that it was Molly Weasley who had spoken. There was a smile on her face; the only genuine smile that I had been offered all evening.

"You're welcome to stay for dinner, you know," she offered kindly. Behind her, I saw Sirius make a rude gesture at the back of her head. I chose to decline.

"Thanks for the offer, Molly, but I have no wish to overstay my welcome. I'll see you at the next meeting," I replied politely, before leaving.

**Yay! Another Chapter finished! Thanks for reading, and please review! I don't mind whether you love it, hate it or somewhere in between, just so long as I know _someone_ out there is reading it ('Cause right now I feel like I'm the only person in the world who knows this story exists) :D**

**Next Chapter: Severus makes a suggestion that infuriates Alysia, but she feels she has no choice but to go along with it, especially as it was made on Dumbledore's advice.**


	6. Settling In

**Chapter Five**

**Settling In**

About three weeks after that first meeting, I had begun to settle into the routine of the Order. No one knew where I was staying, not even Dumbledore. I suppose I'm a little too proud sometimes; I would have found it humiliating to confess that I was sleeping in a cave in the middle of nowhere. More humiliating still would have been the sympathy from the few Order members who had the kindness to at least treat me like a human being; I do not think I could have stood the resulting offers of accommodation.

To my credit, no more angry outbursts escaped my lips at the next meeting. I could not help but notice that Severus seemed a little subdued. He glanced anxiously at me a few times, but did not make any smart-alecky remarks.

As the meeting closed, I pulled Molly aside for a moment. She seemed very tired.

"Molly, I just wanted to say I'm sorry about what happened to Arthur. You know that I am sincere when I say I hope he recovers soon," I told her gently. She gave me a sad smile in return.

"Thank you Alysia, dear. Now, you must be very hungry; you hardly spoke at all during the meeting. I absolutely insist that you stay for dinner," she said.

I had to smile. Molly could be a little obstinate when it came to hospitality. Ignoring Sirius' furious glare, I consented.

"Alysia," a voice muttered behind me. I spun around and saw that my brother was close to tears about something. Whatever it was, I didn't know, I didn't particularly care and I was past offering him any sympathy, anyway. When he asked me, "Could I have a word?" I simply nodded, my face coldly expressionless. I followed him upstairs into one of the bedrooms. As he closed the door, I spun around and faced him, a fierce look in my eyes.

"What do you want?" I demanded. For an answer, my brother pulled a small envelope out of his breast pocket and handed it to me.

"I received this today. I have consulted Professor Dumbledore about it and his advice is that we should accept," he said. I looked from the envelope to his face.

"Accept what?" I asked sharply. He motioned for me to open the envelope. I did so, and found that it contained an invitation.

"To a celebration at Malfoy Manor?" I read aloud. "Severus, this is tomorrow night!"

"I am aware of that, Alysia," he replied quietly. "I shall collect you from here at four o'clock. I expect Molly or someone else will be able to assist you to prepare for the occasion."

Great! Just what the Healer ordered; an entire evening stuck with that arrogant, narcissistic hypocrite called Lucius Malfoy! I would have protested if Severus had not left the room, and no doubt the building. He never did stick around Headquarters more than he had to.

* * *

"Why I have to go to this stupid party is beyond me," I complained grumpily the following evening.

I heard the front door open downstairs. Glancing quickly at the enormous clock in the corner of the room, I added furiously, "If that's Severus, tell him to wait for me downstairs. If he is stupid enough to complain, _kindly_ remind him that he said he would collect me at four, and it's only three-thirty!"

Wishing that there could be some way out of this, I pulled a set of blood-red dress robes out of the wardrobe and put them on. Nymphadora Tonks had kindly offered to lend them to me. I had to admit she had pretty good taste; I could tell they would look perfect on me. That hardly cheered me up, though. I rolled my eyes as Molly's teenage daughter, Ginerva, flung the door open without knocking and flew into the room.

"Mum says Professor Snape's here," she said breathlessly. I groaned impatiently as Nymphadora ushered her outside.

"Hold still, Alysia. I want to try something with your hair," she instructed as she waved her wand in circles over my head. I watched in the mirror as my hair twisted itself into an elegant bun, with tiny wisps loosely lining my face.

"There. Perfect," she said happily as she put her wand away. I looked doubtfully at my reflection as I raised a sparkling pendant to my neck and held it while Nymphadora fastened the clasp. With a sigh, I thanked her, before turning from the room and making my way down the long, winding staircase.

"Alysia, dear, there you are," Molly said gently, offering me a hug. "Do try to have a good time, won't you?" she added awkwardly. I snorted loudly.

"I don't think that's very likely, given the company I will be in," I responded sarcastically. It was then that I noticed my brother was staring at me, his mouth open.

"You look lovely, Alysia," he finally said.

"Save your breath, Severus!" I said spitefully. "Let's just get a few things clear. The only reason I am going to partake in this _ridiculous_ charade is because Dumbledore thought it might be a good idea. I will not be mingling or socialising any more than I can help. As for any pretence of sisterly affection, you can forget it. Understand?"

Severus hesitated. For a moment he looked like he was going to protest. I raised my eyebrows and saw his resolve crumble. "Understood," he eventually mumbled.

Somewhat placated, I permitted Severus to lead me out onto the doorstep. Taking his arm, I inhaled sharply as we turned into darkness.

**I am so loving writing this story right now! Only problem is, I can't tell if anyone else likes it or not. _Please_, I beg you, leave a review. I don't bite, and even if you don't like it, I'm a big girl and I will be able to deal with it :P**

**Next Chapter: Alysia and Severus attend the celebration at Malfoy Manor. Severus is less than pleased with Alysia's behaviour at the event, however, and urges an 'agreement' on her.**


	7. At The Ball

**Chapter Six**

**At The Ball**

"Alysia, how lovely to see you," a tall, blonde man greeted silkily. I glanced contemptuously at him.

"Pity. I can't really say the same, Lucius," I replied coldly. He dismissed my comment as Severus excused himself.

"Will you walk with me, Alysia?" he offered politely.

I accepted. I don't know why I did, seeing as every part of me was screaming at me to turn away, but I did. I suppose I had to be polite. Anyone with half a brain knew that Lucius was second only to Voldemort himself, which meant he had enough authority to make my life a living Hell if I offended him, not that it wasn't Hellish already. I seriously doubted whether the fact that we were first cousins would be enough to persuade him to do otherwise.

"You have not attended any of our meetings," he said, pretending to be curious. Honestly, if that pig expected me to play the perfect Death Eater, he really was a remarkable idiot!

"No. I haven't, and I don't intend to, either," I stated quietly. Lucius sneered at me.

"I would have thought you would be more eager than anyone, given your er, _conduct_ at the last meeting you attended," he remarked acidly. I spun my face around in surprise.

"I beg your pardon?" I asked sharply. He sneered again.

"I think you heard me, Alysia," he said pleasantly. I glared at him.

"I know perfectly well what you said, Lucius. I want to know what you meant by it!" I demanded hotly. I continued glaring at Lucius as a hand touched my shoulder firmly. I was so angry that I barely even heard my brother speak.

"May I have a word with my sister, Lucius? In private," he said darkly. Immediately, Lucius' expression changed and he actually looked remotely friendly for a moment.

"Of course, Severus," he said politely as Severus led me out into the garden. I spun around and faced my brother, arms folded and eyes narrowed in anger.

"What on Earth was he talking about?" I demanded. "What did he mean, my conduct at the last meeting? Well?"

Severus hesitated. "Alysia, you mustn't take any notice of what Lucius said," he finally said. I blinked.

"Oh, mustn't I? Why is that, I wonder? Perhaps you think, if you had not come and broken up our conversation, that Lucius might have _let slip_ something that you didn't want me to know about!" I replied scathingly.

Severus gazed at me, supposedly hurt by the harshness of my voice.

"I don't know if you have noticed, but I am not Imperiused any longer! I am not a plaything to amuse you, Severus! I am your _sister_, not that you've acted like it these past few years!" I continued. Severus looked over his shoulder in alarm.

"Keep your voice down!" he hissed urgently. I ignored him.

"Admit it, Severus! You let me rot in Azkaban because you had a cosy little job, not to mention Dumbledore's protection, and confessing that you had used an Unforgivable on me would have ruined that, wouldn't it?" I finished heatedly. When Severus made no response, I added, "And you had the nerve to call _me_ selfish!"

My brother's face exploded with anger, but he did not speak. Rolling my eyes impatiently, I remarked, "I think I've done enough socialising for now. Goodnight, Severus." I turned on my heel as Severus grabbed my arm.

"Alysia, don't be stupid. You can't leave yet," he hissed. I raised my eyebrows.

"And why not, Severus? Is dear old Voldie going to be making a grand entrance any moment?" I asked sarcastically. Severus' eyes flashed.

"For goodness sake, Alysia, remember where you are and hold your tongue!" he scolded. I wrenched my arm out of my brother's grip.

"I said _goodnight_, Severus," I repeated firmly, storming off.

* * *

Whilst my brother busied himself mingling with fellow Death Eaters, I sat in the kitchen of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. It was only seven-thirty when I got back, which meant that most of the occupants were still up. Molly Weasley was helping me untie my hair whilst her youngest son, Ronald, bent his head over an enormous pile of holiday homework, carefully supervised by Hermione Granger who, it saddens me to say, had been firmly ignoring my existence ever since I had joined the Order.

It still infuriated me that I had been dragged along to that stupid 'celebration' to begin with, and I didn't mind saying so.

"I can't believe him!" I ranted. "I really cannot believe he actually tried to _force_ me into this!"

"Calm down, Alysia, dear. I'm sure Severus meant well," Molly said quietly. I know she meant well by what she said, but it didn't help.

"You obviously don't know my brother as well as I do, Molly," I said with a heavy sigh. "He is a selfish, arrogant _pig_. I would have been much happier if the Ministry had ordered Dementors to Kiss me, rather than have to put up with his stupid games." Molly sighed.

"Alysia, it saddens me to hear you talking about Severus like this. You used to be virtually inseparable. What happened between you two?" she asked.

"I don't want to discuss it," I said stiffly. "Let's just say he really hurt me, and leave it at that."

The door opened at that moment and Sirius came in. He looked surprised to see me.

"Alysia, what are you doing back here so early?" he asked quietly. A wave of sadness washed briefly over me; it was the first time in over thirteen years that he had spoken to me without any hatred in his voice.

"I got bored with pretending to be a Death Eater, so I left," I replied dismissively. Sirius nodded curtly before sitting down and looking at me, concerned.

"Alysia, I've just spoken to Dumbledore. He seemed worried by your reluctance to tell any of us where you are staying," he said. I closed my eyes.

"That is my decision, and I have no intention of changing my mind," I stated calmly. After a moment's hesitation, Sirius pulled a folded parchment out of his pocket. It was Karkaroff's letter.

"He also told me about this," he added. "He said he's convinced that it is genuine."

I stared at him, wondering where all this was going. He sighed heavily before he placed it on the table between us.

"I should have known better than to even consider that you could have been one of them, Alysia. I'd known you for years, yet I was ready to believe the worst of you without hesitation. Can you ever forgive me?"

I was dumbfounded. Looking at the floor, I murmured, "You weren't the only one, Sirius. I had forgiven you long before they dragged me off to that horrid place. You only acted as anyone else might have under the same circumstances."

"But that doesn't make it right," Sirius said firmly. Looking at the anguish in his face might have moved me to tears, had we not been interrupted at that moment. The door swung open again and my brother glared at me. I deliberately avoided his face, choosing instead to turn around and stare resolutely at the stove.

"I'd like a word, Alysia. Now!" he said, his voice trembling with rage. With a huff I stood and followed him into a little room down the hallway. As I spun around to face him, he slammed the door shut, making me jump.

"Quite frankly, Alysia, your behaviour tonight was absolutely disgraceful! Here I am, _trying_ to help you stay safe, and you throw it all away with a childish tantrum! And all for what? A pathetic, _meaningless_ comment!" he snarled. My eyes widened as I opened my mouth to retort.

"If it was so meaningless, then why were you so eager to prevent Lucius from telling me so himself? And don't you dare try that emotional blackmail crap on me, Severus! The very thought of you trying to help me, as you have so _vehemently_ claimed, is laughable!" I replied hotly. Only Severus could be foolish enough to try my temper tonight.

"Why, you ungrateful little... Have you any idea how much danger you placed yourself in tonight? Can you honestly fathom how much effort it required on my part to smooth the whole thing over?" he yelled.

"I have never kept what I think of others a secret, Severus. I'm not going to start now! I've said before that it is better to be killed by Voldemort than to be arrested by an Auror, and I still stick by that!" I retorted.

My brother and I glared at each other in tense silence for several minutes. Finally, he broke the silence again.

"We find ourselves in a precarious position, Alysia. It is not relevant how. But I suggest we come to an agreement that might just help us out of this mess. Like it or not, we will have to work together if we are going to survive," he said, trying to keep his voice calm.

I raised my eyebrows. "An agreement?" I asked in a dangerously high voice.

Severus took a step towards me. "From now on, you and I will attend every Death Eater meeting. Together. You will act as they expect a Death Eater to act. You will not insult anyone or otherwise lose your temper, except for circumstances in which the Dark Lord would approve. You are most certainly _not_ to show the Dark Lord any inclination of disrespect. As for your accommodation, wherever it may be, it is utterly unsuitable. You will return home to Spinner's End. During the school term, you may stay here. Do you understand?" he said quietly.

I pursed my lips angrily. Severus had a great deal of nerve, to be ordering me about like that. Still, I had no desire for this conversation to drag on. I decided to agree, if only to shut him up.

"Fine!" I spat. Pushing roughly past him, I swung the door open violently and stormed back into the kitchen.

**Well, there you have it. I probably spent more time refining this chapter that I did actually writing it (I re-wrote the conversation between Alysia and Molly three times), but here it is at last. Please tell me what you think, because otherwise I don't know whether I'm doing a good job on this story unless you tell me :P**

**I've actually written most of the story by now, but as I never upload anything until I'm as happy with it as I can possibly be, it will probably still be a couple of days between uploads, while I pick over tiny details. That being said, I'll try very hard not to leave any tortorous cliffhangers like my first two stories did. No promises, though. Hey, I still have to keep my readers wanting more, don't I?**

**Next Chapter: We get to meet Voldemort for the first time, and Severus makes a surprising confession. Will it be enough to soften Alysia's bitter heart? Stay tuned to find out ;)**


	8. How To Act Like A Death Eater' Part One

**Chapter Seven**

**'How to Act Like A Death Eater' Part 1**

As I began to settle back into my old bedroom I took to listening to muggle music. Despite what anyone else said, I actually thought some muggle bands were quite good, and it granted me a momentary distraction. It was a fact that infuriated my brother, of course, and frequently resulted in his trying to knock my door down. This particular day was no different.

"Alysia!" he shouted over the noise my muggle music player was making. When I made no response, he marched over to it and pulled the plug out of the wall. I spun around in my chair and glared angrily at him.

"I was listening to that!" I pouted. His eyes flashed dangerously at me.

"It is not fitting for a Death Eater to listen to that muggle rubbish!" he declared. I immediately got to my feet.

"And since when have I been a Death Eater?" I asked coldly. He looked at me like he thought I was actually stupid.

"Since you had that Mark burned into your arm," he replied quietly.

"That was your doing, Severus, not mine!" I reminded him. Severus slammed his fist on my dresser.

"Good God, Alysia! Do you think this is a game? Our very lives are at stake here! The Dark Lord could call at any moment!" he shouted. I jumped sharply as I heard a loud 'crack' outside.

"Speak of the Devil," I muttered under my breath, after a brief glance out my window. Severus gave me a stern look.

"Alysia, for the love of Merlin, behave yourself," he hissed as we heard a knock on the door.

I sighed and followed my brother down the stairs. I quickly formed the opinion that Severus deserved a good hexing. However, I forced my expression to change to one that was somewhat more pleasant as I heard the front door open.

"Come in, my Lord," I could hear Severus say. I could just about picture him, too. Bowing ridiculously low, as though he would like nothing better than to kiss Voldemort's...

"You recall my sister, Alysia, my Lord," Severus said, snapping me immediately out of my thoughts. Pretending to play the dutiful sister and Death Eater, I allowed a small smile to grace my face as Voldemort murmured "Ah yes, of course." After a stern glance from my brother, I relented and did a small curtsy.

"You must forgive my unseemly appearance, my Lord," I said pleasantly. "It seems that in my brother's eagerness to prepare for your arrival, he forgot to inform me you were coming."

Well that was true enough. Judging by Severus' reaction when we heard Voldemort arrive, he had known _well_ in advance of the impending visit. And to tell the truth, I _did_ rather look like something the cat had dragged in. I was mildly surprised when Voldemort smiled at me. Yes, I wasn't mistaken. He actually smiled right at me!

"That is fair enough, Alysia," he said quietly, sitting down in one of our lounge chairs.

"Will you take a drink, my Lord?" I offered politely. He smiled again. I was starting to get a little unnerved, now. I mean, since when did that overbearing tyrant actually genuinely _smile_?

"A drink would be most welcome, Alysia. Some wine will suffice, if you have any," he answered. With another curtsy, I withdrew to the kitchen. Listening carefully, I heard Voldemort speak.

"It is as I feared, Severus," he said quietly. Shaking my head, I reminded myself that eavesdropping on the most evil wizard of all time was a dangerous thing to do. If he'd wanted me to know anything about what he was telling Severus, he probably would have waited until I had returned. Opening the cupboard door, I busied myself with trying to find a bottle of wine.

Annoyingly, it seemed that everything in that house had been moved around. It took me an entire five minutes to find the wine and some glasses. I know it doesn't sound like a long time, but when you're anxious not to offend a guest in case they get angry enough to kill you, it feels like an eternity.

Finally, I reappeared, a glass in each hand. With a gracious smile, I passed one to Voldemort, before handing the other to Severus. Voldemort raised his eyebrows as he realised that I had not brought out a drink for myself.

"Will you not be joining us, Alysia?" he asked.

"Begging your pardon, my Lord, but no. I fear I am not myself today. With your permission, I will take my leave now and try to get some rest," came my reply. I had to work hard to suppress a smirk at the look on Severus' face. It was absolutely priceless. Voldemort, on the other hand, looked faintly disappointed.

"It saddens me to hear that you are unwell, Alysia. You may go," he said.

I could have cried for joy at those last three words. Fortunately, I did not. Instead, I curtsied once more and smiled politely before retreating to my bedroom. Lying down on the soft quilt, I closed my eyes and allowed myself to fall asleep. It was absolutely exhausting, pretending to be the perfect servant to someone I hated and despised. I hoped I would not have to keep up this charade for too long.

* * *

When I woke up, it was dark outside. As I climbed off the bed and stretched, I thought I could here muffled sobs. Curious, I followed the sound, into my brother's bedroom. I frowned at the sight that awaited me in there. Severus was curled up in the chair by his desk, crying like a little child.

"Whatever happened to acting like a Death Eater all the time, Severus?" I asked coldly. He raised his tearstained face to look up at me. Honestly, the sight of him was absolutely pathetic!

"I'm sorry Alysia," he replied, wiping his face furiously. "It's my fault you've been dragged into this whole mess. You were right. I was being selfish. The fact is, I'm scared for you. If the Dark Lord caught on to what you really thought of him, the penalty would be worse than you could ever imagine." I raised my eyebrows. Did he really think I was going to fall for that?

"Severus, if you think, for one _millisecond_, that I am going to forgive you, then you will find yourself sorely disappointed. Stop your snivelling this instant. I would expect this from a coward, not the Half-Blood Prince," I said firmly.

There. That shut him up. I hadn't called him that name since we were kids. With a somewhat ashamed look on his face, my brother got to his feet.

"You did well today, Alysia. I am proud of you," he said quietly. I swear, if I had raised my eyebrows any higher, they would have disappeared into my hair!

"You think that pathetic farce was something to be proud of Severus?" I demanded hysterically. "I, personally, am disgusted at myself. I cannot believe I actually went along with it, when my insides were screaming at me to curse that nutter into oblivion!"

"And it's a good thing you didn't, because you would have been killed if you had tried," Severus replied sternly. I closed my eyes. How many times a minute did he have to bloody remind me that putting so much as a toe out of line could have that result?

"You should have been packing," I said quietly, pretending I hadn't heard what my brother had just said. "Term starts tomorrow. Don't worry about me, I have to go out in the morning, anyway, and I'll make my way to Grimmauld Place afterwards."

My brother nodded curtly. Turning around, I made my way back to my room and prepared for bed.

**Hmm. I had some fun with this chapter. Alysia has been so eager to jump down Severus' throat all the time that I couldn't help but giggle at the thought of Severus losing his patience with her.**

**In the next chapter: A photograph, taken when Alysia was seventeen, triggers her to ponder her relationship (or lack thereof) with Severus. She confides some of these thoughts to Sirius and Remus, and decides to trust them with the reason behind her bitterness towards her brother.**


	9. Murderous Rage

**Chapter Eight**

**Murderous Rage**

When I awoke the next morning, Severus had already left. It was fine by me. After weeks of having to put up with him non-stop, I was glad to finally get some peace. As I pulled on my clothes, my eyes fell on a dusty old photo frame on my dresser. It must have sat there, untouched, for goodness knows how long. I picked it up, carefully wiping the dust off with my hand and felt my heart shatter as I saw the picture the frame contained.

It had been taken on my seventeenth birthday. I was hugging my brother ecstatically while he chuckled. I permitted a single tear to fall down my face as my thoughts turned to the memory of that occasion.

_"Close your eyes, Aly," Severus said mischievously. With a cheeky grin I obeyed, allowing him to place a hand over my eyes to prevent me from peeking._

_"Hold out your hand," he instructed. Curious, I did so, and felt him press something small into it. After a few seconds, he pulled his hand away from my eyes and folded my palm tightly over the object he had just placed in it._

_"You can look now," he whispered excitedly. My eyes shot open and I slowly unfolded my hand to reveal a small, gold locket. I opened the locket and saw that it contained two smiling photographs. One of Severus. One of me._

_"Sev, you're the best brother ever!" I cried happily, hugging Severus so tightly that Mum said she was surprised he was still able to breathe._

_"And you're the best sister ever," he replied with a smile_.

With a sigh, I set the photograph back down. Molly was right. We _did_ use to be close. Skimming my eyes over my dresser, I noticed that the locket my brother had given me was still dangling solemnly from a small jewellery stand, just as it had been the day I was arrested. It was the only item on that dresser that was not covered in dust. Evidently, Severus had cleaned it recently; I was sure it had not sparkled that much the last time I had seen it.

With a silent sob, I sank into my chair and cried my heart out. I wanted my friends back. I wanted my _life_ back. But more than anything else, I wanted my brother back. At that moment, I would have given almost anything to be as close to him now as I was when I was seventeen. The pain of how hostile we had become was almost too much to bear. I found myself wondering how my brother could have been so stupid as to have done something so utterly unforgivable. Part of me was actually scared of him. I could not trust him anymore. I could no longer tell when he spoke truthfully, and when he was lying. I had come to assume that he was _always_ lying. And that was the worst of it.

Once upon a time, if I had seen him as distressed as he was last night, I would have comforted him. I would have tried to soothe him and cheer him up. But I did not. No, I mocked him instead. He told me that he was scared, and I refused to believe him. How on Earth did I turn into such a heartless monster?

* * *

Dinner at Grimmauld Place was a solemn affair that night. It was just me, Sirius and Remus. Seeing as Sirius' house-elf, Kreacher, had disappeared again, I had offered to make that evening's meal. The three of us sat around the kitchen table in silence. Sirius was watching me with a concerned look on his face as I played with my food.

"Surely your cooking isn't so terrible that even you wouldn't eat it?" he asked me. It was a feeble attempt at a joke. I actually am pretty good at cooking, though I do tend to get flustered and screw things up if I try to make something complicated. I smiled and nervously fingered the locket which now hung from my neck.

"Ha ha," I replied half-heartedly. Remus looked up from his plate and glanced at me.

"You're awfully quiet, Alysia. Is something wrong?" he asked me. When I didn't answer, he frowned, clearly worried. "Has Severus been treating you alright?" he demanded.

"He treats me well enough, Remus. I'm just a bit depressed," I murmured.

Sirius and Remus glanced at each other as I explained. "Severus got really upset last night. I'm still not quite sure what it was about. Years ago, I would not have been able to bear seeing him like that. But last night," I sighed heavily before I continued. "Last night I mocked him over it. I called him names. He tried to say something that I think was an attempt to make amends, and I... I..." I was unable to finish my sentence, due to the fact that my throat had become constricted. I fought back the urge to start crying again.

"Make amends for what, Alysia?" Sirius asked sharply.

I hesitated. They had a right to know, I reasoned. With a cold look on my face, I asked him, "Who do you think placed me under the Imperius Curse, Sirius?" Sirius leapt violently to his feet.

"He WHAT!!!" he shrieked angrily. I stared at him, frightened, as Remus stood and tried to calm him down.

"I'LL KILL HIM! I SWEAR I'LL KILL HIM!" he shouted murderously, slamming his hand on the table. I leapt to my feet, alarmed by his words.

"You won't kill anyone, Sirius," Remus said firmly, though by the trembling in his voice, I could tell that he, too, was extremely angry. After several minutes, Sirius seemed to have calmed enough to sit back down. Relaxing slightly, I copied. A deafening silence fell upon the room, broken only by the ticking of the enormous clock in the hallway. I was startled by a loud noise as an envelope materialised on the table. Looking at it, I noticed that it was addressed to me. Eager for the distraction, I tore it open and pulled out the parchment inside.

_Alysia,_

_There is a meeting tomorrow night at Malfoy Manor, at 6 o'clock. I will meet you there. Do not be late._

_Severus._

With a sigh, I stuffed the letter back into the envelope, making a mental note to burn it later. I was not looking forward to this at all.

**Yay! Two Chapters uploaded in one day! So, please tell me, what are your thoughts so far? Do you love it? Hate it? Not sure? Either way, please let me know :)**

**Next Chapter will feature Alysia trying to fit in at a Death Eater meeting. Can she pull it off? Wait and find out ;)**


	10. How To Act Like A Death Eater' Part Two

**Chapter Nine**

'**How to Act Like A Death Eater' Part 2**

It was with dread that I glanced up at the enormous gates which guarded the entrance to Malfoy Manor. Another few hours of pretending to be loyal only to Voldemort. I still didn't completely understand why Severus wanted me to do this. He saw how tired I was the last time I put this act on, and that was after mere minutes in Voldemort's company. Did he honestly think I could keep it up for an entire evening?

"Just keep quiet, and you'll be fine," I told myself bracingly. "Just don't speak unless you're spoken to." Feeling so nervous that I was surprised I didn't vomit, I began to walk up the path towards the house.

"Alysia, I'm glad you came," Voldemort greeted me pleasantly from the top end of a very long table. "I have missed your presence at our meetings. You may sit where you like."

The few Death Eaters who had already arrived looked rather disgruntled at Voldemort's last comment. Given that they were scattered, seemingly randomly, along the table, I assumed they had not been afforded the privilege of selecting their own places.

I spotted Rabastan, a few seats away from Voldemort. Slightly relieved to see a relatively friendly face, I smiled and sat next to him, on Voldemort's side of course. I did not wish to affront my 'Master' by appearing to want to sit further away from him.

"Lucius will be joining us soon, my Lord," I heard Lucius' wife, Narcissa, say softly as she entered the room. "He is giving the House-Elves instructions regarding tonight's gathering."

"Giving himself a lecture on how to suck up, more like," Rabastan whispered in my ear. I giggled. It was more than a fair statement. Lucius Malfoy was the biggest suck-up I'd ever met.

"Alysia, you seem rather cheerful this evening," Voldemort remarked. He granted me yet another smile. Honestly, that was really starting to creep me out. I smiled back at him.

"How could I not be cheerful, my Lord, when I have the privilege of being in such fine company?" I asked pleasantly. Voldemort chuckled softly and his eyes lit up.

"But where is Severus? I assumed you two would be arriving together?" he questioned. God, this was hard!

"He told me he would have to meet me here, my Lord. I'm sure he will be here presently. Perhaps he is caught up at Hogwarts?" I suggested. That seemed to satisfy Voldemort. Thank Merlin for that, I thought. I hoped Severus would arrive soon. If he was planning on making me do this on my own...

Over the next few minutes, I immersed myself in conversation with Rabastan. Every so often, more Death Eaters would arrive, and Voldemort would inform them of where he wanted them to sit. I thought I caught him staring at me a few times, smiling as though I was a child who amused him. Finally, there was only one place left, immediately next to Voldemort, and still Severus hadn't shown up. I could hear people whispering, and it worried me. At long last, my brother walked through the door, panting.

"Forgive my lateness, my Lord," he said breathlessly. Voldemort motioned for him to sit without saying anything to him. Boy, did he look angry. I found myself hoping that Severus would not be punished too harshly for his tardiness.

"Now that we are all _finally_ here," Voldemort began, "I'm afraid we will need to go to our backup plan. Thanks to Rookwood's information, it has become clear that either Potter or myself will have to retrieve the prophecy personally. It is my intention to lure Potter to the Ministry and have a select group of my most loyal Death Eaters seize it from him."

I frowned and looked at Severus, confused. Then again, seeing as this was technically my first meeting, I was bound to have difficulty understanding what was going on. If only I had paid more attention during Order meetings, I might have been able to guess, at least. Voldemort surveyed the meeting intently before continuing.

"Lucius, I believe you have secured some valuable information on that account," he said. Everyone turned to stare at Lucius, myself included.

He looked a little anxious as he began to speak. "My Lord, given the information I have been presented, we would greatly increase our chances of success if we were able to convince Potter that some danger threatened the Animagus Sirius Black."

I nearly gasped. Thankfully, I remembered where I was and didn't. I glanced at Voldemort, who seemed relatively pleased.

"Very well. That is what we shall do," he said.

I couldn't help myself. I had to say something.

"Pardon my interruption, my Lord, but this plan seems risky. I gather Potter is not unintelligent. Is it possible he might realise that this is a trap?" I said gingerly. In reality, I thought the plan was very likely to work. That was why I was so worried. I hoped I could plant that seed of doubt in Voldemort's mind, by gently urging him to think more carefully. If I could, he might try something else.

"Thank you for your most worthy consideration, Alysia. Rest assured, I will be taking these things into account," Voldemort replied. So much for that idea. Standing up, Voldemort addressed the crowd that sat around the table.

"I would like to welcome back Alysia Snape. As you may recall, her presence at meetings in the past was a delight to have, and I hope she will provide me with joy by continuing to attend," he said. The other guests applauded politely. I blushed.

"My Lord, you embarrass me with your praise," I murmured as my cheeks turned a delicate pink. This was actually beginning to get quite easy. I almost instinctively knew what to say and how to act, and it seemed that Voldemort was becoming more and more pleased with me.

"Do not be embarrassed, Alysia. I speak the simple truth," he replied with a smile.

I could not help but notice that Bellatrix looked less than pleased.

**Thanks for reading, guys. I'm going to be blatantly obvious with you; this chapter is really just a filler so you don't get too confused a bit later on. Also, I wanted to emphasise Voldemort's unusual treatment of Alysia.**

**Next Chapter: Alysia is horrified to learn that a certain secret has been leaked to Dumbledore. Feeling heart-broken, betrayed and scared, she decides to turn her back on the life she thought she wanted.**


	11. Alysia's Choice

**Chapter Ten**

**Alysia's Choice**

Severus and I left Malfoy Manor in silence. We scarcely said a word to each other until we were quite some distance away. Finally, I asked him, "What happens now?"

He looked mildly surprised. "As soon as we get back, I will need to speak to Professor Dumbledore," he said. His mouth opened slightly as his eyes fell on my neck.

"You're wearing your locket," he stated. I fingered it absently.

"I felt like it," I replied quietly. Severus looked curiously at me, but did not press me further. I turned away awkwardly. It was only then that I noticed we had arrived at our destination. As I opened the door to Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, I was surprised to see Albus Dumbledore waiting for us in the hallway. With horror I saw that Sirius stood behind him, a mutinous look on his face. No one needed to tell me what was going on; Sirius' eyes said it all.

"A word, please, Severus," Dumbledore said quietly. I had never seen an angrier expression on his normally genteel face. Worried, I made to follow my brother, but he prevented me. It seemed he, too, had sensed what was happening.

"You should get some sleep, Alysia," he murmured as he followed Dumbledore into the kitchen. I bit my lip and waited for the explosion. I did not have to wait for very long.

"You lied to me, Severus! I cannot begin to imagine how traumatised Alysia is by your actions! As for trying to force her into joining you at meetings, I will not stand for it! You will go to Voldemort and inform him that Alysia will not be attending any longer! I leave it to you to come up with an excuse!"

I glared angrily at Sirius as he walked over to me. "What have you done?" I choked, before turning on my heel and running upstairs.

* * *

I sobbed hard into my pillow. I couldn't believe Sirius had betrayed me like that. Surely he knew that I had trusted him? I didn't notice my door open slightly.

"Alysia?" Severus asked softly. I turned my head and glanced at him briefly, before turning away again.

"I thought he might have had enough sense to keep his mouth shut," I whispered bitterly. My brother sat gingerly on the edge of my bed.

"Alysia, I am not angry with you. You had every right to tell Sirius what happened," he said. He was trying to comfort me, I know, but his words did not help me feel better. Mainly because I was scared. I was scared of what might happen to Severus if he followed through on Dumbledore's orders. I was scared that Voldemort might come after me if Severus told him I would not be going to see him again. I was scared that Dumbledore would turn his back on us if Severus refused to obey.

"What's going to happen to us, Severus?" I asked him, fear written all over my face. He averted his eyes and stared at the floor. For the first time in years, I knew exactly what he was thinking. I could tell that he was scared, too.

"I don't know," he whispered.

* * *

It was still dark when I awoke the next morning. A glance at the clock told me that it was 4am. I dressed hurriedly and gathered my things. I was sure no one would be able to understand my decision. As I closed the front door of Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, London, I turned my back on the Order of the Phoenix forever.

* * *

"Alysia, what are you doing here?" Severus asked, surprised. I raised my eyebrows.

"I believe our arrangement was that I would stay here during the school holidays. If I am not mistaken, term ended yesterday," I replied tartly.

"But I haven't seen or heard from you for months, Alysia. I assumed..." Severus began.

"You shouldn't have assumed anything, Severus. I left the Order because I had no wish to stay. But you were never informed of any alteration to the part of my accommodation that concerns you," I said coldly. "Now perhaps you could be courteous enough to let me in? I am very tired, and I have no desire to stand on this porch all night."

My brother relented and let me enter the house. He made to take my suitcase, but I pulled it away.

"I know where my room is, Severus. I can manage," I muttered as I made my way up the stairs.

* * *

"What is this rubbish?" Severus demanded, poking his plate with a fork. I pursed my lips. It was obvious that he was still the same fussy eater he had been when I was arrested.

"Severus Snape I assure you, if you insult my cooking one more time, I will never even make you a sandwich again," I said, annoyed. He looked up at me disdainfully.

"I wonder how I _ever_ managed while you were in Azkaban, Alysia?" he asked sarcastically.

"Very poorly, I imagine, seeing as you can't even make a piece of toast without managing to burn it!" I retorted. Severus swore and knocked his glass onto the floor as the doorbell rang.

"Severus, for goodness sake, if you are expecting company then let me know!" I exclaimed, closing my eyes as he bent over to pick the glass up. "I'll take care of that! You go answer the door!" I ordered, pulling my wand out. I was in a thoroughly bad mood, thanks largely to the fact that Severus had resumed his old habit of constantly lecturing me about how to behave.

"Evanesco," I muttered at the spilt drink on the floor. Fortunately, the glass was not broken. I picked it up and put it on the sink as Severus returned to the kitchen, followed by Lucius. I glared angrily from him to my brother.

"Alysia, I'm glad you're home. It is you I was actually hoping to see," my cousin said in his superior I'm-a-million-times-better-than-you voice. I frowned.

"Don't muck about with me, Lucius. I'm not in the mood," I told him. With a false smile, he sat at the table.

"Okay then, Alysia, I will get to the point. Sit down," he said silkily. I frowned at him.

"I'm your cousin, Lucius, not your house-elf," I remarked viciously. Severus didn't approve of that.

"Alysia," he said warningly. I ignored him.

"Very well, Alysia," Lucius said. "The Dark Lord has been asking about you." I raised my eyebrows.

"Is that so, Lucius?" I asked coldly. "Well, you can happily send my apologies and inform him that I intend to see him quite soon." Severus' eyebrows shot straight up to his hairline as I said that. If I hadn't been so annoyed at him, I might have found the look on his face somewhat comical.

"Now, _if_ you two will excuse me, I am much too tired and annoyed to be bothered with pointless chit-chat. Severus, if there happens to be some life-threatening emergency, I'll be in my room. Otherwise, I would prefer not to be disturbed!" I said scathingly, before turning on my heel and marching upstairs to bed.

**Phew! This chapter was hard work! It skips forward so much that I had to really concentrate when I was writing it, to make sure it all made sense. Thanks for reading it though. You guys have no idea how much of a thrill I get when I read the stats for this story and find it getting more and more hits by the second. Please review, though. Otherwise, I just can't tell if you're enjoying it or not (unfortunately, I am about as psychic as Sybil Trelawney, so I don't know unless you actually tell me).**

**Next Chapter: Sirius does something which pushes Alysia over the edge, causing her to officially break off her engagement to him.**


	12. I'm Your Brother

**Chapter Eleven**

**I'm Your Brother**

Severus and I ate breakfast in silence the next morning. Eventually, I stood up, gathering my and Severus' plates and made a start on washing the dishes. Severus was watching me intently for quite a few minutes.

"Alysia," he finally said. I did not look up.

"What is it, Severus?" I asked quietly as I scrubbed a spoon.

Severus hesitated for what seemed like an eternity, before asking, "About what you said last night. Did you mean it?" I rolled my eyes.

"When have I ever willingly said something and not meant it, Severus?" I replied. Severus slowly got to his feet.

"Alysia, if you go through with this..." he began. I looked up over the sink and glared at him.

"Let me guess; Voldemort will have me killed if I come within one _inch_ of making a mistake. For the millionth time, I get the picture, Severus," I interrupted irritably.

"And what exactly do you hope to achieve, Alysia?" Severus demanded crossly. I closed my eyes.

"Some straight answers would be a start! And seeing as neither you, nor Dumbledore, nor anyone else seem willing to provide them, I feel as though I have no other option but to go straight to the source!" I shouted. Severus instantly turned as white as a sheet.

"Alysia, I forbid it," he said quietly. That really made me lose it. I'd had enough of my brother being a control freak.

"You're not my father!" I yelled. My eyes began to sting as Severus took a step closer to me.

"You're right, Alysia. I'm not. I'm your brother," he replied.

"Then start acting like it!" I sobbed. I raced past him, up the stairs and into my room, slamming the door behind me.

* * *

I emerged from my room several hours after that incident. Having tied my hair back and located my handbag, I had come to the conclusion that I needed to get out of the house for a while. I had no doubt that Severus would have something to say about it, and I wasn't disappointed.

"Where are you going?" he demanded. I spun around and faced him.

"Out," I replied coldly. Severus raised his eyebrows.

"I guessed as much, Alysia. Where 'out'?" he asked me.

"That does not concern you, Severus. I'm going out, and that is all that you need to know," I responded, before turning on my heel and walking out the door.

* * *

"Alysia! Wait!" I heard someone calling. I spun around in surprise and saw that it was Remus. I turned around and started to walk away.

"Alysia, please don't turn away from me. It was Sirius who told Dumbledore what had happened, not me," he pleaded. I stopped in my tracks and closed my eyes. I could feel Remus approaching from behind; I could also feel his hand on my shoulder a few seconds later. I shook it off.

"Alysia, Sirius has been a wreck since you left the Order. None of us have heard from you since, and that has left everyone very worried. Can you blame me for being desperate to talk to you?" he asked gingerly. I nervously fingered the band on my finger, which Sirius himself had given me so many years before.

"Can you blame me for leaving with a broken heart, Remus? I trusted both of you with something that nobody else knew, apart from Severus, of course. I had my reasons for keeping it to myself, but Sirius' actions have put me in an extremely dangerous position. I had to leave, and I can never come back, Remus. Not ever," I explained sorrowfully.

"Where have you been all these months, Alysia?" he asked me. I spun around and faced him.

"That does not concern you," I replied curtly.

"Alysia..." he began, clearly concerned.

"I have to go," I said firmly, interrupting him. As much as I hated myself for doing it, I turned and walked away.

* * *

I lost track of the hours as I wandered aimlessly. I felt like my heart had been torn to shreds. Eventually, I headed home. When I arrived, it was to find that Severus had changed into dress robes and looked about to go out.

"Why so dressed up, Severus?" I asked quietly. He looked up, surprised. It seemed he had not heard me come in.

"There is a Christmas Party at Malfoy Manor tonight. I am going. Do not wait up for me; I will probably not get home until quite late," he replied.

"Wait!" I called. After hesitating for a moment, I told him, "Give me ten minutes. I'll come too."

Severus was surprised. "Alysia, I thought you hated Lucius," he said.

"I still do, but it might help lift my spirits. I could use a distraction right now," I replied.

Ten minutes later, I emerged from my room, wearing a flowing ivory satin gown. With a curt nod, my brother took my arm and we walked out the door together.

* * *

"May I have this dance, Alysia?" Rabastan asked me politely. With a warm smile I accepted and permitted him to take my arm. Severus watched us intently as we waltzed around the room. I could not tell whether he approved of my choice of dance partner, but he seemed pleased that I was willing to at least try to enjoy myself.

"Did I ever tell you that your eyes sparkle like little stars whenever you smile?" Rabastan asked softly as we sat down together a few minutes later. For the first time in years, I laughed heartily. I really was having a good time with him.

"How can my eyes sparkle as you say they do, Rabastan?" I teased. He smiled.

"I don't know, Alysia, but they do," he told me, taking my hand and kissing it softly. I blushed slightly.

"Rabastan!" I exclaimed, embarrassed. His smile grew even wider.

"No more than you deserve, Alysia," he said quietly. I gazed at him, smiling sadly. He could be incredibly sweet when he wanted to. A loud bang distracted us. We both stood and looked around the room wildly, searching for the source of the sound. So did many of the other guests.

"Well, such a lovely celebration this is!" a familiar male voice announced coldly. "So sorry to interrupt the festivities, but I felt so sure nobody would mind my coming, seeing as I _am_ the hostess' cousin, after all!"

With horror, I saw the intruder make his way through the crowd. He spotted me, and marched toward me, a mad look in his eye.

"Sirius," I whispered, backing against a wall in terror.

"Well, what have we here?" he asked cruelly. "My own fiance, _fraternising_ with a sworn enemy!" He grabbed my wrist tightly, causing me to gasp in pain.

"You're hurting me!" I whispered. Sirius did not listen.

"Did you expect me to let you go without a fight, Alysia?" he demanded. His breath smelt strongly of Firewhiskey. "You promised me your heart; I expect you to keep your word."

"Sirius, please let go of me," I pleaded. He merely sneered at me.

"But what if I don't want to, Alysia? Surely, you wouldn't send me away? And to think I thought you loved me!" he taunted. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Severus was watching with increasing horror.

"Sirius, please!" I begged as he started leaning in on me. Something in Severus' eyes snapped. Furious, he pulled out his wand.

"Let her go, Black!" he shouted angrily. Sirius spun around and faced him, a cruel grin on his face.

"Why? I'm only giving the little slut what she deserves!" he declared scathingly. The look on Severus' face when he heard that was absolutely frightening.

"HOW DARE YOU CALL HER THAT!" he roared, striding forward. He held his wand against Sirius' throat as Rabastan ran up to me.

"Alysia, are you alright?" he demanded quietly. When I made no response, he turned and glared at Sirius angrily.

"Are you satisfied, Black?" he shouted. Sirius spun back around and faced us again. With a furious glare at us, he Disapparated. My hand flew to my mouth as tears began to stream down my face. I'd never been so terrified in all my life. As Rabastan helped me to a chair, I heard scandalised murmurs ripple through the room.

"We must summon the Dark Lord," I heard Lucius say nearby.

"No!" I responded deliriously. Severus walked over and knelt in front of me.

"Alysia, you have just been attacked. We need to tell him this has happened," he said gently. I shook my head violently.

"No!" I repeated. I looked hard into my brother's eyes, willing him to read my mind.

"Not yet. Please, not yet," I thought desperately. My brother frowned and nodded slightly. I took that to mean that he understood. Relieved, I closed my eyes and cried. In my despair, I pulled my engagement ring off my finger and tossed it aside.

"Tell him he can have his stupid ring back; it's over!" I sobbed.

**Next Chapter: Sirius confronts Alysia again, and she loses her temper with him. She also runs into Severus, who is surprised to see her in a cheery mood for the first time in ages.**


	13. Remember Who You're Dealing With

**Chapter Twelve**

**Remember Who You're Dealing With**

I lay upon my bed, still wearing my dress. I did not remember getting home, or falling asleep, but I must have done. My eyes opened slowly as I heard Severus open the door and come in.

"Alysia?" he asked, clearly worried. The memory of what had happened the previous night came flooding back. With a sob, I leapt into my brother's arms, crying hard into his shoulder.

"Hush. It's alright," he whispered soothingly. After several minutes, I pulled away slowly.

"I've spoken to Dumbledore about it," Severus told me grimly. "I told him last night, after you went to sleep. I didn't think you would be up to reliving it yourself." I gave him a grateful smile.

* * *

I hardly left the house again for months. Once or twice a week, Voldemort called on us. His arrival always startled me and set me off again; mostly because every time I saw him, I could not stop thinking about his reaction when Severus and Lucius had told him what Sirius had done. It had been a scary thing to witness; almost as scary as Sirius' reaction had been when I told him about Severus Imperiusing me. When Severus went back to Hogwarts after the holidays were over, Narcissa Malfoy came to stay with me.

I mostly occupied myself with reading. Narcissa took care of most of the housework for me, which meant I had a great deal of free time on my hands. If I got bored with reading, I generally took a short nap. One day, however, I plucked up enough courage to ask Narcissa a question.

"Narcissa?" I asked. She looked up at me kindly.

"What is it, Alysia?" she responded. I hesitated.

"You have noticed that the Dark Lord seems to view me in a favourable light, I daresay," I began. Narcissa nodded. I sighed.

"No doubt you are aware that I was blatantly disloyal during my years in Azkaban. I denounced him regularly, as your sister Bellatrix will happily point out. Yet the Dark Lord has seemingly welcomed me back with open arms. He has not once questioned my loyalty since my return, as I am sure he did with Severus, and even Lucius. Do you have any idea why that might be?" I asked. Narcissa smiled knowingly at me.

"If truth be told, Alysia, I do not think the Dark Lord minds whether you are loyal to him or not; a rare occurrence, you understand. As to why that is, I'm afraid I know even less than you do," she told me.

With a tiny smile, I looked back down at my book. I found it impossible to concentrate, though. I must have read the same line at least ten times. Finally, I snapped the book shut and marched upstairs to my room. I returned a few minutes later, ready to go out.

"Alysia!" Narcissa exclaimed.

"I'm going out for a while. I just need some time to clear my head, and it might do me good to get out of this wretched house for a few hours," I mumbled. Narcissa nodded slowly.

"Stay safe, Alysia. Your brother would probably kill me very slowly and painfully if something bad happened to you," she said sternly. I smiled slightly and made my way out the door.

* * *

I thought I could hear someone calling my name as I gazed numbly in a shop window. Without looking to see who it was, I turned and marched away. I could hear whomever it was still calling me as my footsteps quickened and finally I broke into a run. The person caught up with me and spun me around roughly to face them.

"You'll stand still and listen to me when I'm talking to you, you little bitch!" Sirius snarled. I turned my face away angrily.

"What is the meaning of this?" he demanded, shoving my discarded engagement ring in my face. I looked up sharply.

"Funny, even a Squib could have worked that one out, Sirius. It means I do not want to marry you any more," I replied coldly.

"You can't honestly say that you'd rather have that Lestrange freak than me!" he snarled.

"Is that what this is about?" I shrieked hysterically. "You don't appear to have realised, Sirius, but you _attacked_ me; don't you dare interrupt!" I ordered as Sirius opened his mouth to protest.

"As I was saying, you attacked me, at a private party, in front of an enormous crowd of guests! You bloody scared me half to death, Sirius, and you really believe that I would continue to be hopelessly in love with you after that?" I demanded.

"I get the picture, Alysia! You're dumping me for that low-life scumbag!" Sirius said scathingly.

"Sirius, once and for all, there is absolutely NOTHING going on between Rabastan and me! We are FRIENDS!" I yelled. "Now, _if_ you don't mind, I didn't go out for the first time in months only to be hounded by an obsessive, jealous, controlling _jerk_!" I added as I turned on my heel and walked away.

"You'll regret this, Alysia!" he shouted after me. I spun around and glared at him.

"Just remember who you're dealing with, Black!" I shouted in reply, before stalking off.

* * *

I felt nauseous as I struggled to regain my balance. With a sigh, I spotted the Hog's Head and made my way towards it. When I opened the door, I was surprised to see Severus sitting at a table by the dusty window, his head bent over a large pile of parchment. I slowly made my way over to him and saw that he was actually marking a pile of essays.

"Do you always work so hard on your days off?" I asked, faintly amused. Severus looked up sharply.

"Alysia! You startled me! Why aren't you at home?" he asked. I shrugged.

"I just needed to get out of the house for a bit," I murmured as I sat down across from him. With an awkward smile, Severus bent his head over his marking again.

"Oh come on, Severus! You haven't seen me for weeks, we happen to run into each other when you conveniently have an afternoon off, and you honestly would prefer to continue working?" I asked. Severus ignored me.

"Well, at least let me help you with that," I muttered as I made a playful grab at the pile. Severus looked up at me, the corner of his lips twitching slightly.

"I don't think so, Alysia. You might make a mistake, and cause me a great deal of embarrassment," he replied slyly.

"Just because I didn't get an 'O' in my Potions N.E.W.T like you did does not make me a complete dunce on the subject," I declared. "You didn't do so great in History of Magic, despite it being _incredibly_ easy, yet you hardly ever hear me harp on about that!"

Severus pretended to be offended. With a quiet 'humpf' he bent back over his paperwork.

"Severus?" I asked. No response. I knew he was only mucking around. "Severus, look at me!"

"Not until you apologise," Severus muttered. I sighed.

"Alright, you win. I'm _sorry_ Severus. You are an undisputed genius at Potions, Charms and Defensive Magic, and I can never hope to match your prodigious skill and knowledge. _Happy_?" He looked up, a broad grin on his face.

"Apology accepted, _Angelique_," he teased.

"Don't! Call! Me! Angelique!" I retorted crossly, slapping my brother hard with every syllable.

"Ouch! That hurt!" he protested, rubbing his arm. I grinned triumphantly.

"You should know better than to call me that name, Severus. Or have you forgotten the time I used that Tongue-Tying hex on you?" I asked sweetly. Severus grimaced.

"No, I haven't forgotten, Alysia, especially as you did so less than two minutes after I had taught you how to cast it," he groaned. I giggled.

"Why are you in such a good mood, Alysia?" Severus asked me suspiciously. That wiped the smile off my face!

"I can't win with you, can I?" I exclaimed, exasperated. "If I'm in a foul mood, you get angry at me, even though it's normally your fault anyway, and if I'm in a good mood, you get suspicious!"

"Given that the last time I saw you this pleased you had just cursed me, I think I have every right to be concerned," he replied in a business-like tone. I rolled my eyes and poked my tongue out at him.

"Well?" he demanded. I allowed a cheeky grin to slowly form on my face.

"Let's just say I met a rather pathetic dog earlier," I told him. Severus looked concerned.

"What happened?" he demanded, frowning. I giggled.

"You really won't believe this! He actually thought that the only reason I ditched him was that I was apparently so _desperate_ to go out with Rabastan instead! Honestly, if I hadn't heard it with my own ears, I would never have believed he could be so thick!" I replied, laughing so hard that my sides began to ache. Severus raised an eyebrow.

"And what was your response to that?" he asked.

With an amused grin, I replied, "I gave him just a _hint_ of a reminder of that notorious temper of mine. Oh, don't fret, Severus; I didn't hex him!" I added hastily as Severus bit his lip anxiously. "As much as I really wanted to. Nah, I just yelled at him a bit and told him to get lost."

**Hmm. I initially wasn't sure whether to include this Chapter. At first, it just felt like it didn't fit. Eventually, though, I decided to ignore the annoying little voice in my head that told me not to bother with it. I hope I made the right decision :P**

**BTW: Haven't had many votes about which House Alysia would be in, yet. At the moment, it's tied between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. Please go to my profile and vote in the poll. It isn't often I let others have a say in the plot of my stories, so, I beg you, savour the opportunity and take advantage. ;)**

**Next Chapter: Alysia is confused about how she sees her relationship with Severus as well as with Rabastan Lestrange, and we start to learn the full story of Alysia's arrest and subsequent trial.**


	14. Closer Than Before

**Chapter Thirteen**

**Closer Than Before**

Severus actually looked mildly relieved. Then, suddenly, he glanced past me and a dark shadow crossed his face. Concerned, I spun my head around and understood. Harry Potter had just walked in. So far, every time I had seen Severus and Harry in the same room, Severus had sulked afterwards. I turned back and was not really surprised to notice that Severus had turned his face away.

"Let's go for a walk," I said quickly.

"I'm fine," he replied shortly.

"Severus..." I began nervously.

"I said I'm fine!" he hissed. I frowned at him.

"No, Severus, you're not. I'm not blind, you know," I told him.

"Just drop it, Alysia!" Severus snapped irritably. I sighed.

"Very well, Severus. If you say you're fine, then I guess you're fine, but we're going for a walk anyway!" I replied, getting to my feet. When Severus did not stand, I pulled out my wand, frowning.

"If I have to force you, Severus, I will," I said quietly. Scowling, my brother got violently to his feet.

"There. That wasn't so hard, was it?" I asked cheerfully as I dragged him outside. Severus rolled his eyes.

"Remind me to hex you later," he muttered, massaging his temple. I grinned cheekily.

"Don't be such a spoilsport, Severus. Now, here's the deal," I said, grinning even wider. "This afternoon, you and I are going to relax and enjoy ourselves; something neither of us can truly say we've done for years. And we're going to start by getting something to eat," I added. "After that, I am going to drag you into every shop just like I did when we were at school. If we have time, we might even finish off this glorious day with a drink and a few laughs."

* * *

"I can't believe I'd forgotten that!" I exclaimed, laughing hysterically. "The look on Lucius' face was absolutely priceless!"

Severus smiled slightly. "Not to mention his reaction when you tried to pass yourself off as Nicole Anderson, and started fawning all over him. I really thought he might end up looking permanently horrified," he mentioned. I giggled.

"Well, when you're half muggle anyway, it isn't really very difficult to impersonate a muggle-born," I replied cheekily, taking a sip of Butterbeer. "Besides, she _did_ have a blatantly obvious crush on Lucius; you remember how heart-broken she was when he called her a, well, you know," I finished awkwardly.

"Yeah, poor girl. I remember Lily telling me she wouldn't come out of the bathroom for hours," Severus said quietly.

"All the more reason to give Lucius a taste of his own medicine," I responded bitterly. "He had no right to treat her like that; she was trying to tell him something incredibly personal and he dismissed it, just because she was muggle-born."

"Speaking of crushes," Severus began. I looked up expectantly at him. "What about you and Rabastan Lestrange?" he asked.

"Oh, for goodness sake!" I whispered. "Yes, I had a crush on Rabastan! You know it! I know it! Damn, half the bloody world knows it! I was thirteen, naive and remarkably stupid!" I replied crossly.

"You were pretty upset when you found out he was seeing Maria Parkinson," he stated. I rolled my eyes.

"Of course I was upset, Severus. But what nobody seems to have caught onto yet is the fact that many witches have crushes during their adolescent years. I got over it. I started seeing Sirius, and managed to move on with my life," I explained. Severus looked sceptically at me.

"You know, Alysia, I don't think you're being entirely honest with yourself. Are you absolutely sure you have no feelings for Rabastan whatsoever?" he asked.

"Positive," I declared confidently. "I've told people enough times, Severus. Rabastan and me are good friends, nothing more."

Severus raised an eyebrow. It was perfectly plain that he didn't believe me. To tell the truth, I wasn't so sure myself. I had been confused about it for a long time. I thought Sirius had loved me, but then why had he attacked me like that? That wasn't love; it couldn't be. I couldn't deny that Rabastan and I had gradually gotten closer, but to say that we had feelings for each other? It just seemed so far-fetched, especially after so many years.

"Alysia?" Severus asked. I blinked and looked at him. He looked a bit worried.

"About time. I've only been trying to get your attention for the past five minutes," he said anxiously. "Are you alright?"

"Um, yeah. I'm just a bit tired, I guess," I said quietly, glancing at my watch. "It's getting late. I wouldn't be surprised if Narcissa had already set up a search party to look for me," I added, getting to my feet. Severus nodded.

"Look after yourself, Aly," he said quietly. With an awkward smile, I turned and left.

* * *

I couldn't sleep that night. My body was so tired that it ached, but my stupid brain wouldn't stop whirring. My head was an absolute mess of confusing thoughts.

_'You have to forgive him. You can't hold a grudge like this forever,'_ a little voice whispered in the back of my mind.

"I can't," I reminded myself crossly. "This is the same man who forced me into becoming a Death Eater; the same _bastard_ who let me spend thirteen years in Azkaban for it without a second thought! I can never forgive him for that! Never!"

_'Listen to yourself. Think about the time you spent with him this afternoon. You've already started to,'_

"Stop it!"

_'He's your brother; you have to forgive him eventually,'_

"I said stop it!"

_'He loves you,'_

"SHUT UP!" I finally yelled, losing my patience completely. I heard the guestroom door open and a moment later, Narcissa was standing in my bedroom doorway, looking very worried.

"Alysia? What's wrong?" she asked anxiously. I bit my lip.

"Just a crazy dream, Narcissa. Nothing to worry about," I lied. "Sorry I woke you up," I added. Narcissa gave me a tired smile before retreating back to the guestroom. I fell back on my pillow and stared up at my bedroom ceiling. Eventually I closed my eyes and silently told my brain to stop annoying me so much. Only then did I, finally, fall asleep.

* * *

_"Stay away from me, Alysia!" Sirius yelled spitefully. I stopped in my tracks, completely stunned._

_"What is it? What's wrong, Sirius?" I asked. He looked me up and down with so much contempt in his face that, for a moment, I thought he was about to spit on me._

_"Don't you think you've done enough damage?" he shouted angrily, before pushing roughly past me. I stared after him in shock as he stormed away. Once he was out of sight, I allowed tears to stream down my cheeks as I turned and ran the other way. I felt like someone had just ripped my heart out of my chest and stomped on it in front of me._

_I had no idea where I was going. Eventually, in a dark corner, I sank to the ground. I clutched my knees to my chest as the tears kept flowing. They wouldn't stop. I was so upset that I didn't even look up when I heard footsteps approaching. Even when I was half covered in shadow, I couldn't bring myself to lift my pathetic, tear-stained face._

_"Alysia Snape?" a man asked. I jerked my head up and saw a man in front of me. After a moment or two, I managed to recognise him. It was Frank Longbottom. He glared at me with pure loathing in his eyes as I nodded slowly._

_"Get up!" he ordered. When I did not immediately obey, he pointed his wand at my face._

_"I said get up, Snape!" he repeated harshly. Somewhat alarmed, I did so, slowly. The moment I had gotten to my feet, Frank grabbed my arm tightly and pulled me out of the corner into the street._

_"You're under arrest for supporting a known Dark Wizard," he told me. I tried to pull away, but his grip was too tight._

_"What? No! There must be some mistake!" I protested, horrified. Frank pulled me along roughly._

_"We have a witness who says otherwise," he said coldly._

_"What witness? Who?" I asked desperately. "What are they saying?"_

_"You'll find out soon enough," he replied. "Now shut up and come with me!"_

I jerked awake, covered in cold sweat and panting heavily. Fumbling in the dark, I finally found my bedside lamp and flicked it on. It took me a long time to start to calm down.

**Thanks for reading guys. Please review now :P**

**Next Chapter: Alysia recieves two visitors. One is welcome. The other is most certainly _not_.**


	15. A Visitor Or Two

**Chapter Fourteen**

**A Visitor (or two)**

I hardly remembered my dream at all when I awoke the next morning. As I climbed out of bed and pulled on a dressing gown, Narcissa poked her head in my room.

"Sorry Alysia, but I'm afraid I'll have to spend the next few days at the Manor. Will you be alright here on your own?" she asked. I smiled.

"I think I'll manage, Narcissa. You go. I'll find a way to occupy myself," I replied politely. Narcissa gave me an apologetic look before she Disapparated. Once I was alone, I made my way downstairs and made myself some breakfast.

* * *

"Ouch!" I cried as I stubbed my toe. "Stupid bloody step!"

The doorbell rang at that moment. I nearly swore from surprise. "If that's another muggle salesperson..." I muttered menacingly. When I swung the front door open, I was surprised to see Rabastan on the porch.

"Hi Alysia," he said with an awkward smile. I blinked stupidly.

"Rabastan, hey! Come in," I replied, stepping aside to let him in the house. "What brings you here?"

Rabastan shrugged. "I figured it was about time I called in to see how you were getting on," he said shyly. I smiled warmly as I showed him into the living room.

"I'm a lot better than I was a few days ago," I replied. "Um, do you want a drink or something? I was about to make myself a coffee, anyway," I offered. Rabastan smiled.

"Sounds great," he said. I returned a few moments later carrying two cups of black coffee.

"You ran into Sirius Black yesterday," Rabastan stated quietly as I handed him one of the cups.

"How did you know that?" I demanded, stunned.

"Well, I was about to come gallantly to rescue you, but you did an admirable job of losing him on your own," he replied slyly. I gaped at him.

"You were _there_?" I asked incredulously. He nodded.

"I was quite impressed with how you handled that swine, though I must confess, I was slightly disappointed that you said we were friends," he finished quietly. I threw him a quizzical look.

"Well, we are friends. What was I supposed to say? That I hate you?" I asked. He smiled slightly.

"You misunderstand me, Alysia. I meant that I was slightly disappointed that you said we were _only_ friends," he replied.

It took me a moment to realise what he meant. It was several minutes before I found my voice.

"Rabastan..." I began nervously.

"Alysia, please hear me out," he begged, taking my hand and squeezing it gently. "I do not think I can lie to myself any longer. You fascinate me. The way you seem to light up an entire room the moment you walk through the door. The way you never seem afraid to speak your mind."

I looked shyly at my feet. I had not expected this; in fact, I had given up any hope of it years ago. Rabastan gently lifted my chin up so that I faced him again.

"I have denied it for a long time Alysia, but only because I was afraid of how my family would react. I love you," he added. "I've loved you since you were thirteen. It tore me up inside to deny it; to pretend otherwise, but I refuse to do it anymore."

Rabastan stayed for a few hours. Once he had left, I laid back on the lounge and closed my eyes, allowing myself to fall asleep.

* * *

_"You are Alysia Diana Snape?" I was asked. Gazing numbly at the enormous sea of faces above me, I nodded._

_"You live in Spinner's End with your family, correct?" Again, I nodded._

_"Miss Snape, you have the right to speak in your own defence. I must remind you that whatever decision you make, you cannot change your mind later," I was told._

_"I choose not to speak," I said quickly. Behind me, I could hear the crowd murmuring._

_"Very well. We will proceed to hearing from the first witness."_

_I gaped in horror as the door opened and Sirius walked in. He looked at me as though I was of no greater significance than a tiny speck of dirt. After a few seconds, he turned politely to the judges before me._

_"Your name, please?" one of them asked._

_"Sirius Black," Sirius replied._

_"You know the accused, Mr Black?" Sirius turned and looked at me with intense hatred._

_"I thought I did," he finally replied venomously. I fought back tears; a thousand knives could not have hurt me more than those four words._

_"Can you please explain how you came to discover that the accused was a Death Eater?"_

_"It was the night Lily and James Potter died," he said quickly. I gasped in shock; I had not known that James and Lily were dead. "I went to the house to check up on them. When I got there, the walls of the nursery had been blown clear away from the house. I ran in, worried. The first thing I saw was James lying on the hallway floor. He was dead."_

_Here Sirius turned and glared angrily at me. "I looked all over the house for any sign of Lily. Eventually, I walked into what had been the nursery. I saw that bitch leaning over Lily's body! At first, I thought she had found them, just like I had, and was upset!"_

_My eyes were stinging painfully. Sirius' voice became more and more spiteful with every word._

_"I pulled her up to her feet, hoping to comfort her. It was then that I saw that foul _thing_ on her arm! She had been branded with the Dark Mark!"_

I bolted upright. It was the second time in as many days that I had dreamt about my arrest.

"I must be losing my mind," I muttered, holding my forehead. I had a splitting headache. With a groan, I lifted myself off the lounge and stumbled into the kitchen to pour myself a glass of water. As I sipped gingerly, I heard a loud 'bang' coming from the front door. Dropping the glass, I raced into the hallway, to find that the door had been knocked down. There, standing where the door had previously been, was none other than Sirius Black himself.

"What do you want?" I asked coldly. With a cruel leer, Sirius started walking towards me. I backed away.

"What do you want?" I repeated. Sirius pulled a wand out of his robes.

"I want to know what that scumbag was doing here earlier," he said quietly. I rolled my eyes.

"I fail to see how that concerns you. Last time I checked, I had broken up with you; therefore, it is none of your business who visits me or why they come," I declared. Sirius' eyes flashed angrily and he leapt at me, forcing me against the wall and holding his wand to my throat.

"Leave me alone!" I shouted, struggling desperately. Sirius sneered.

"I told you that you would regret leaving me," he said cruelly. If truth be told, I was absolutely terrified, but I was determined not to show it.

"Let go of me!" I grunted, trying to push him off me. He grabbed my arm tightly.

"I'll never let you go, Alysia. Never, you hear?" he taunted. I bit my lip. To my surprise, Sirius let out a howl of pain and backed away from me, staring at his wand arm. I saw with horror that his forefinger had become black and shrivelled. It looked _mummified_! He looked up at me, aghast, before he turned and left. Slightly relieved, I rubbed my arm. It felt sore and bruised. There was only one thought in my mind:

"What the bloody hell just happened?" I asked myself.

**Hmm. Nice little mystery there. What _did_ happen? Ah well, I guess you'll have to keep reading to find out. There is a _tiny_ hint, not in the next chapter, but the one after that. So, please tell me what you think so far, and keep an eye out for updates :D**

**Next Chapter: Severus comes home with some bad news, and confronts Alysia about her relationship with Sirius. He is disturbed and angered by her answer.**


	16. Hidden Secrets

**Chapter Fifteen**

**Hidden Secrets**

The rest of the day passed without major incident. At seven o'clock, I finally relented and went upstairs to bed. I was absolutely exhausted, and collapsed onto my bed without even changing into my nightclothes.

* * *

_"Miss Snape?" I looked up sharply and saw that the judges were all watching me very intently._

_"You have heard the evidence submitted to this court. Have you anything to say before a verdict is passed?" I bit my lip and turned my head around, looking at Severus. He avoided my stare, looking instead at the floor. I spun back around to face the judging panel._

_"There is nothing I can say that will alter my fate, I'm sure," I replied defiantly._

_"All those in favour of conviction?" a voice asked. I inhaled sharply as a sea of hands shot into the air. There was no need to ask if any judges thought otherwise; the vote was unanimous._

_"Alysia Snape, you have just been convicted by this court of supporting a known Dark Wizard. There is only one sentence I can pass down. You are to be imprisoned in the most secure wing of Azkaban, for life."_

_"Alysia! My baby!" a voice shrieked hysterically. I spun around and saw that Mum was rushing through the crowd._

_"Mum!" I cried desperately, running toward her. I hugged her tightly, even as the Dementors tried to pull us apart._

_"Please don't take my baby away from me!" she exclaimed as tears started to fall down my face._

_"Don't let them take me, Mum! I don't want to go to prison! I'm scared!" I sobbed. Finally, the Dementors managed to pull me away from her. I saw her clutch Severus' shoulder._

_"Severus, do something!" she cried in despair. Severus took her hand firmly._

_"There's nothing we can do, Mum," he said quietly. I snapped. There _was_ something he could have done, and he knew darn well what that was._

_"YOU BASTARD, SEVERUS!" I screamed angrily as I was tugged away. "YOU COLD, SELFISH BASTARD! I HATE YOU!"_

* * *

"Alysia?" a male voice asked. I opened my eyes and saw Severus standing in my bedroom doorway, looking very pale. I blinked and sat up, rubbing my eyes.

"Severus! What are you doing home?" I asked, surprised. He walked into my room very slowly and sank into my chair. He looked as though he was about to vomit. I frowned, slightly concerned.

"Severus? What's wrong?" I asked gently. He looked up at me. I could see the anguish in his eyes as he opened his mouth to speak.

"The Dark Lord followed through on his plan to lure Potter to the Ministry tonight. Several Order members went to help Potter, Sirius Black among them," he said quietly.

I frowned again. "What happened?" I demanded.

"Bellatrix and Sirius got into a nasty duel, and Sirius was killed," Severus said heavily. I gasped and held a hand to my mouth. I couldn't believe it.

"There's more," he added. "Dumbledore turned up and placed an Anti-Apparition Jinx on the room they were in. All of the Death Eaters who were there are now in Azkaban; all except Bellatrix, who managed to escape."

"What?" I responded, shocked. I would not have wished Azkaban on anyone, not even my worst enemy. "Who was there?"

Severus started counting on his fingers. "There was Rodolphus and Bellatrix, of course, Mulciber, Avery, Nott, Dolohov, Lucius," I gasped at the mention of our cousin's name. "There were some others, but I cannot be sure who."

I could almost feel my face turning white. I simply could not bring myself to believe that this had happened.

"There's something I've been meaning to talk to you about," Severus said anxiously. I looked curiously at him. "I've been putting it off because I didn't want to upset you, but I don't think I have an excuse anymore."

Severus gave me a strange look. "It's about Sirius," he began. "I need to know if he had ever hit you, or otherwise tried to hurt you, before that Christmas Party a few months back."

"No," I replied, a little too quickly. Severus frowned slightly.

"Alysia, please don't lie to me. It doesn't make sense that a man who claimed he loved you for years would treat you like that out of the blue. I will ask you again. Did he ever hurt you before that?" he asked. I lowered my eyes.

"Once," I confessed quietly. "I was supposed to meet him at the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade, only I got there a bit early, and Rabastan and I started talking. Sirius saw us when he arrived, and he was absolutely furious."

My throat started to feel constricted. I had not thought about this for a long time. "I tried to tell him we were only talking, but he wouldn't believe me. He jinxed Rabastan, then he..." I started sobbing. Severus leaned forward and held my hand.

"He what, Alysia?" he pressed gently. I wiped my eyes furiously.

"He dragged me outside, and punched me in the eye," I told him. My brother's eyes widened angrily. "Please don't be angry, Severus," I pleaded.

"How can I not be angry, Alysia? Why didn't you ever tell me this?" he demanded. I sighed.

"Because this is exactly how I knew you would react. The last thing I wanted was to give you another excuse for your endless vendetta against James and his friends, so I held my tongue. I went to find Lily, right after it had happened, and she helped me get rid of the bruise," I explained.

"Wait a minute! You told Lily, but you never told me? Alysia, what happened to not keeping any secrets between us?" he asked. I glared at him.

"I was eleven when we made that promise, Severus, and that was before you did this to me," I snapped, rolling up my sleeve to reveal the Dark Mark on my arm. He turned away, repulsed. "You still haven't told me why he was so damn desperate to have me in the first place, and you lecture me about keeping secrets?"

"Don't change the subject," Severus said crossly. I closed my eyes.

"I don't understand, Alysia," he said gently. "Even after he hit you, you kept seeing him. You even seriously considered marrying him, for crying out loud. Didn't you learn anything from growing up watching Dad beat Mum up all the time?"

"Sirius was different. He was sorry, okay? He promised he would never strike me again," I replied.

"And so did Dad! Every time he hit Mum, he would say exactly the same thing! I'm so sorry, Eileen. Please forgive me. It'll never happen again, I promise," he quoted angrily. "And Mum fell for it! Every bloody time he said it, she believed him! And we weren't immune to his temper, either!"

"Severus," I began, but he interrupted me.

"Remember the time we met Lily by the river, and you wouldn't let her see your arm because it was covered in dark bruises? Or the time we visited Aunt Juliette and Uncle Abraxas, and I kept saying I'd tripped and fallen down the stairs, because I didn't want to tell them the real reason my nose was broken? Did you really want to spend the rest of your life like that, covering up injuries because they would be too painful to explain?" he asked harshly.

Part of me knew that Severus was right, but I was notoriously stubborn.

"He said he loved me," I responded quietly, staring at my feet.

"Sirius Black never loved anyone except himself!" Severus snapped angrily. I bit my lip in an effort to stop myself from crying.

"Alysia," Severus said gently. "I'm not sorry about losing my temper over this, and I'm not sorry for the fact that, if Sirius were still alive, I would probably be cursing him right now. No matter what happens, you'll always be my little sister, and I can't bear to see you get hurt like that." I looked up at him.

"Then why did you tear my life apart, Severus? How can you say that you can't bear to see me get hurt, and then turn around and break my heart?" I asked him sadly. Severus looked away.

"Believe me, Alysia, if I had thought there was another way, I would never have done that to you," he replied bitterly. "I've regretted my actions every single day since. There were even times when I wished I was dead, because I just couldn't live with what I had done."

"Severus, that's how cowards talk!" I reprimanded crossly. "You are most definitely not a coward, so will you please stop acting like one?" Severus looked at me, slightly surprised at my outburst. I was a little surprised myself.

"I'm tired," I said quietly, deciding to change the subject before Severus could press me. "Shouldn't you get back to the school? What if Dumbledore needs you?"

Severus looked faintly disappointed as he nodded and got to his feet. Yawning, I lay back down on my pillow and closed my eyes. I fell asleep almost immediately, and didn't even hear Severus leave the room.

**Not completely happy with this chapter, to be perfectly honest. However, I couldn't torture myself on it any longer so I decided to consider it finished. Hope you like it better than I do.**

**Next Chapter: Alysia's desperate need to know what happened to Sirius when he visited almost destroys the fragile relationship she has with Severus. However, she (reluctantly) puts this need aside when Narcissa confides that her greatest fear as a mother is being realised.**


	17. A Twisted Case Of Deja Vu

**Chapter Sixteen**

**A Twisted Case Of Deja Vu**

There were still a few days left of term before Severus could come home. Narcissa had shut herself up at Malfoy Manor, and was even refusing to have any visitors, which meant I was stuck by myself. I became obsessed with reading about curses and hexes; I was still disturbed by what had happened to Sirius the last time I saw him, and I was determined to find the answer.

I slammed another book shut in frustration. Nothing seemed to explain what could possibly have caused it. I had even snuck some of Severus' books out of his room, but they could not provide me with an answer, either. It must have been incredibly rare magic, I surmised. I made up my mind to ask Severus about it; if anyone knew surely he would.

To my surprise, Severus did not come home until a week after the holidays had started. I was beginning to get very worried when he, finally, walked through the door.

"Severus! Where have you been? I sent you three owls this week, and I was just about ready to contact Dumbledore!" I exclaimed. With an exhausted sigh, Severus collapsed onto the lounge. It was only then that I noticed he was looking extremely worried.

"Severus?" I asked gently, sitting down across from him. He looked up at me as though he had only just noticed I was there.

"It's Dumbledore. He's dying," he said simply. I blinked several times. The words just did not seem to sink in.

"What?" I whispered, shocked.

"Some kind of curse, I think. I've never seen it before. I managed to contain it in his hand for now, but it's only a matter of time before it starts to spread again, and when it does, it will almost certainly kill him," he explained.

"A curse?" I demanded sharply. "What kind of curse?" Severus stood up and marched over to the window.

"Whatever it was, I think I know how it happened. Dumbledore returned to the school from some outing, yesterday. He had a ring with him, and it definitely showed signs of magical interference." He paused and looked back at me.

"You should have seen his hand, Aly. It was black and shrivelled. If I didn't know better, I would have said that it had been mummified."

The last word that came out of my brother's mouth echoed around my head, making it spin uncontrollably. A curse my brother had never seen before? One that had effectively mummified the hand of its victim? Realisation came upon me so fast that it almost seemed to bypass thought. I stood up and raced upstairs. I had a sneaking suspicion of why that ring had been cursed; why a similar curse had seemingly come from me the day Sirius had died, and I knew it was not good. As I searched violently through the enormous pile of books that had collected in my room over the previous few days, all I could bear to think was that I hoped this was not what I thought it was.

"Alysia? What's going on?" Severus called as he followed me up the stairs. As he reached my doorway, I finally found the book I was looking for and slammed it on my dresser, turning the pages violently until I had found the chapter I needed.

"The day Sirius died, he came here, Severus," I explained as I tried desperately to locate the article I was looking for. "He attacked me again, but this time, he was stopped. Something strange happened." I paused and looked up at him. "I think I know why that ring was cursed. If I'm right, it also explains what happened that day, and it is not good."

Severus gaped at me, clearly stunned. Finally, I found the right page and began reading aloud.

_'The origin of the Mummiya Curse is unknown, although some Magical Historians speculate that it originated in Ancient Egypt. It causes the victim's skin to become dry and shrivelled, and is frequently described as mimicking the appearance of bodies that have been mummified.'_ Here I paused, inhaling sharply.

'_To this day, there is no known counter-curse. The effects spread quickly and are, in most cases, fatal. The savageness of this curse made it a popular choice for the protection of Horcruxes until the late 11__th__ century, when it began to fall into disuse, due largely to it's unpredictable nature.'_

Severus looked at me incredulously. "Alysia, that curse hasn't been seen for centuries. Even if it were possible, it spreads much too fast to be what I saw; there is no way even Dumbledore would have lived for more than a few minutes if that was the case."

"Then how else do you explain it?" I demanded. Severus did not answer. He just stared blankly at me. Finally, he opened his mouth to speak.

"Alysia, listen to me. I don't know what happened, but what you're suggesting is almost impossible," he said firmly.

I frowned and turned back to the book.

'_To date, no reliable sources tell us how the Mummiya Curse is cast, but Magical Historians do agree that it is extremely advanced Dark Magic. It is widely believed that the difficulty and complexity of the spell, common in magic of Ancient origin, may also have contributed to its fading into obscurity.'_

It seemed Severus was right. If nothing existed that explained how to cast the spell, then it was unlikely to be what had caused Dumbledore's injuries. I closed the book violently, tutting as I heaved it back onto the floor. Part of me was secretly relieved, but I didn't give up that easily.

"Severus, why did Voldemort want me so badly?" I asked pointedly. Severus raised his eyebrows.

"I don't under..." he began.

"Just answer the question," I interrupted, folding my arms. There was a tense silence between us.

"Alysia, I can't answer the question, because I don't know myself. All I know is that he told me to convince you, at all costs," he finally answered.

"_At all costs?_" I shrieked. "Severus, when you told me he was threatening to attack Mum, were you telling the truth?" I demanded.

"Of course I was! I wouldn't lie about something like that, would I?"

"I don't know, Severus! And that's the problem! I just don't _know_ you anymore! I don't know if I can trust you or not!" I shouted. "We are on the verge of _war_, and not a single person on either side seems to know where you stand! The scary part is, neither do I!"

"Alysia!" Severus exclaimed. I frowned at him.

"I don't know why you're so shocked; you have no one to blame but yourself. No one held a bloody wand to your throat and forced you to join the Death Eaters. You had a choice. I wasn't afforded that privilege. You know damn well I would never have joined them if you hadn't forced me into it!"

We were forced to abandon out argument for the time being, as the doorbell rang at that moment. After glancing briefly at Severus for a moment, I raced down the stairs and swung the front door open. I was stunned to see that our visitor was a very distraught-looking Narcissa Malfoy.

"Narcissa! What are you doing here?" Severus asked behind me. Looking behind her, I noticed a blonde teenage boy with grey eyes and a pointed chin. He looked like a younger version of Lucius.

"Can we come in?" Narcissa barely even whispered. I nodded and led her to the living room, motioning for her to sit.

"You probably won't remember my son, Draco," she said to me. I glanced up at the boy and offered him a warm smile.

"Yes, I remember, though he was only small the last time I saw him. How do you do, Draco?" I asked politely. The boy shrugged and sat down next to his mother, a tortured look on his face.

"What is it, Narcissa?" Severus asked quietly, sitting next to me. Narcissa turned her face away.

"The Dark Lord came to the Manor earlier. He was absolutely furious at the fact that Lucius had been caught. He said that he was willing to overlook Lucius' mistake, on the condition that Draco..." here Narcissa buried her face in her hands, sobbing uncontrollably. I felt sorry for the woman, and immediately moved to her side, trying to gently pry her hands away from her face.

"What did he say, Narcissa?" I asked gingerly. Draco gave his mother a horrified glance before he leapt to his feet and marched out of the room. Severus made to follow him, but I motioned for him to stay put. I put an arm around Narcissa's shoulder as I repeated my question.

"He said that Draco must join, that he must bear the Dark Mark," she wailed. I gasped in horror. "He's not even sixteen yet. He's sure to get himself killed, or worse! I don't know what to do!"

A horrible silence filled the room, broken only by Narcissa's awful sobs. I glanced incredulously at Severus, unable to believe that this was happening. Another member of our family was being forced into becoming a Death Eater. The revelation made me feel dizzy; it felt like a twisted case of deja vu.

**Well, there you have it. It took me a while to get this chapter ready. Now, in the next chapter, we will find out which House Alysia was in at school. At the moment, there is still no clear winner, so please go to my profile and vote. I will not be updating for a while, to give you all a chance to get your votes in.**

**Till next time, guys :P**


	18. Happier Days

**AN: Okay, I gave all of you plenty of time to get your votes in regarding which House Alysia should have been in, but, even after all this time, there was no clear winner. In fact there were a grand total of just FIVE votes. So, I eventually gave up and chose a House myself. I hope you all think I chose the right one :)**

**Chapter Seventeen**

**Happier Days**

_"You're not homesick already, are you?" Severus joked. I turned to face him, grinning broadly._

_"Nope. Actually, I wish the train would hurry up! I can't believe we've been travelling for three hours already, and we're not even halfway there yet!" I complained. The compartment door slid open and Lily came in._

_"There you two are! I've been looking everywhere for you!" she exclaimed, before sitting across from me. She smiled at me, and I smiled back._

_"Excited, Aly?" she asked. I grinned again._

_"You bet!" I replied happily. "I can't wait to get there. Is it true what Sev has been telling me all summer, that the Gamekeeper is fifteen feet tall and is a little too fond of dragons?"_

_Lily glared at Severus as if to say 'what did you tell her that for'. I giggled as I watched his cool demeanour crumble within seconds and had to shove a hand into my mouth to stop myself laughing at the fact that he was now cowering in the corner._

_Both Lily and Severus looked up sharply as the door slid open again. Standing in the doorway were two boys, both about the same age as Severus and Lily. One of them had scruffy jet-black hair, brown eyes and round glasses. The other was slightly shorter and had a mane of shaggy black hair. Both boys were wearing a smug expression._

_"Get out of here, Potter!" Lily said irritably. The boy with glasses raised an eyebrow._

_"And a good afternoon to you too, Evans," he replied pleasantly. The other boy, the one with shaggy hair, was staring at me. I looked away, pretending to be more interested in the passing countryside._

_"And who is this?" the one Lily had called 'Potter' asked. I spun around and faced him._

_"My sister, not that it's any of your business, Potter," Severus said spitefully. Potter gave me a strange smile._

_"Nice to meet you, Snapette," he said, putting his hand out._

_"My name is Alysia," I replied coolly, ignoring the hand. Potter seemed mildly surprised._

_"Get lost Potter," Lily said angrily._

_"Yes, get lost Potter," came a silky voice behind the boys. I looked past them and saw Lucius glaring at them. Potter laughed._

_"You can't make me, Malfoy," he bragged confidently. Lucius raised his eyebrows._

_"You're right; I can't force you to leave. But unfortunately for you I happen to be Head Boy, so unless you want a month's worth of detention and a hundred points to be taken _each_, I suggest you find somewhere else to spend the journey," he replied. Potter and his friend scowled angrily at him before leaving._

_"Thanks," Severus said quietly._

_"No problem. That's what family is for, right?" Lucius asked before turning to me._

_"You watch out for those two, Alysia. They're nothing but trouble."_

_"Thanks for the tip, Lucius," I replied with a warm smile. Lucius nodded politely at Lily before he closed our compartment door and left._

* * *

I was awoken by hushed voices floating up the stairs. Frowning slightly, I pulled a dressing gown on and made my way to the top of the staircase.

"You are quite sure of this, Severus?" a voice asked anxiously. I recognised it instantly. It was Albus Dumbledore. I wondered what he was doing at our house as I strained my ears to hear the rest of the conversation.

"Yes. I know it sounds crazy, but it actually makes some sense. She's had some alarming mood swings the past few months. She never used to. Plus, the other day she told me about something odd that happened the last time she saw Sirius Black alive," Severus said quietly.

"Have you said anything to her?" Dumbledore pressed.

"Of course I haven't," Severus replied harshly. "She hates me now as it is. If she ever found out about this, she'd kill me!"

"Well, it might help to explain Voldemort's unusual attachment to her," Dumbledore said in a would-be casual voice.

I didn't bother listening to any more of the conversation. I could easily surmise who they were talking about, and I didn't want to hear another word. I could feel rage building in my chest as I got dressed and tidied my hair. When I descended the staircase fifteen minutes later, Dumbledore had left. Severus looked at me with surprise as I marched towards the door.

"Alysia! I didn't know you were up!" he exclaimed. I ignored him.

"Alysia, where are you going?" he asked anxiously. I stopped, but I did not turn around.

"I'm leaving. Goodbye Severus," I replied as calmly as I could.

"Alysia, what's wrong?" Severus questioned. I whipped around and glared furiously at him.

"Oh, I don't know. Perhaps this is one of my 'alarming mood swings'!" I retorted angrily. Severus turned a deathly pale.

"How much did you hear?" he asked feebly.

"More than you ever wanted me to know, I'm sure!" I shouted. "I've had enough, Severus! I've had enough of your secrets! I've had enough of you trying to control every single _minuscule_ detail of my life! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF LIVING UNDER THE SAME ROOF AS A TOTAL STRANGER!" I bellowed. Severus grabbed my arm.

"I'm not a total stranger, Alysia," he said pleadingly. I pulled my arm away.

"Yes you are," I replied coldly. "I don't know what happened to the Severus Snape I grew up with, but he sure as Hell isn't standing in front of me right now."

Severus backed away, a shocked expression on his face. "How can you say that, Alysia?" he asked quietly.

"Because it's the truth," I said simply. With that, I spun around and walked out the door before Severus could stop me.

It did not take me long to reach the cave I had stayed in when I had first escaped from Azkaban. It was the first place I thought of. As I lay down on the hard, rocky ground, I closed my eyes. I was absolutely exhausted.

* * *

_"Firs' years, follow me! Come on Firs' years, this way to the boats!" a voice yelled nearby. I hugged Severus and Lily excitedly._

_"Hope to see you at the Slytherin table, Aly," Severus said with a smile. I smiled back, before hurrying to follow the voice. So did a large crowd of others. I heard many ill-disguised gasps as an enormous man came in to view. I smiled to myself; this must be the gamekeeper Severus had told me so much about._

_"Righ'. No more'n four to a boat. Off we go!" he called. I scrambled forward and managed to climb into a boat with a boy and two other girls. The boy smiled awkwardly at me, but I did not smile back. He looked a little too much like the shaggy-haired boy who had bothered Severus, Lily and me on the train._

_"Hi. I'm Regulus Black," he said pleasantly. I glanced disdainfully at him._

_"Alysia Snape," I replied coldly, before turning away._

_"Yeh'll get yer firs' glimpse o' Hogwarts in a sec!" the gamekeeper called. Everyone turned and stared ahead in anticipation. As we rounded a tight bend, there were audible gasps everywhere. I gaped in wonder at the enormous castle; I had never seen anything like it. As the boats pulled in to shore, I was still staring above me at the incredibly tall towers._

_Everyone followed the gamekeeper inside, but halted abruptly in the Entrance Hall. A tall, stern-looking witch in emerald-green robes was waiting for us._

_"The Firs' years, Professor McGonagall," the gamekeeper announced. It could not be plainer that he felt immensely proud of being the one to lead us there._

_"Thank you Hagrid," Professor McGonagall replied curtly, before turning to us._

_"Welcome to Hogwarts. In a few moments, you will enter the Great Hall and join your classmates, but before you can be seated, you must be sorted into your Houses. They are called Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Each House has its own proud history, and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. I hope you will all be a credit to whichever House becomes yours." With that, Professor McGonagall turned and rapped smartly on an ornate door. It swung wide open and she led us into what must be the Great Hall. There were four long tables running the entire length of the room._

_I spotted Severus and Lucius sitting together at the table on my far right. I smiled and waved at them, and they both waved back. After a few seconds, I noticed that everyone was staring intently at a stool with a shabby, patched hat on it. I decided to follow suit and watched it also. Eventually, a small rip near the brim opened and the hat started to sing._

"_Well I know that I'm not new  
__And I know that I'm not pretty,  
__But appearances are deceiving  
__And vanity is petty.  
__I really doubt you could find a hat  
__With abilities like mine,  
__For whilst glamour isn't my forte,  
__Brains is where I shine.  
__No other hat in this world  
__Could see inside your head,  
__So what better candidate could there be  
__To Sort you all instead?  
__Perhaps you'll be a Gryffindor  
__With bravery so rare,  
__To their daring and their nerve,  
__Nothing else compares.  
__I might consider Hufflepuff  
__For those of loyalty and hard work,  
__Those fair Hufflepuffs stay true  
__To their hearts, now don't you smirk!  
__Even Slytherin might suit  
__If you have a strong ambition;  
__If you're willing to do most anything  
__To achieve it, like it's a mission.  
__Or maybe I'll think of Ravenclaw  
__Where intelligence is prized,  
__So if you have wit and enjoy learning  
__That House might be yours, I surmise.  
__So come on up and try me on  
__I promise I won't bite,  
__Let me see inside your mind  
__And tell where you belong!"_

_As the last line finished, the entire Hall erupted into applause. As the clapping started to die down, Professor McGonagall unfurled an enormous sheet of parchment and gazed sternly over the new students._

_"When I call your name, you are to come forward and sit on the stool. I will place the Sorting Hat on your head, and you will be Sorted into your Houses," she said._

_My heart was in my mouth. Why did we have to do this in front of the entire school? It was embarrassing. I didn't pay any attention as the names were called out, until I heard Professor McGonagall call my name._

_"Snape, Alysia," she called. I gulped nervously as I slowly made my way up to the stool and sat on it. Within seconds, I could see nothing except the inside of the hat. I waited with bated breath for the hat to make up its mind where to put me. I was so nervous I could feel my nails digging into my palms. I didn't listen to what it was saying, until it finally shouted "HUFFLEPUFF!"_


	19. Confession

**Chapter Eighteen**

**Confession**

I was startled by an owl screeching outside my cave. I grabbed my wand and made my way cautiously to the entrance. It was with mild surprise that I found a yellowed envelope, but no sign of an owl anywhere. I picked the envelope up gingerly and raced back to my hiding spot, deep inside the cave.

"Lumos," I muttered as I tore the envelope open. Out fell a large piece of parchment. I sat down slowly to read it, and found with a mixture of anger, disgust and fear that it was from Severus.

_Alysia,_

_I don't know if this will ever reach you. Even if it does, I realise that you are sure to destroy it straight away. I can only hope that your natural curiosity will convince you to read my words before you do so._

"Arrogant git!" I muttered irritably before I continued reading.

_I want you to know that I am truly sorry for the gap that now exists between us. I know that I am largely to blame, and I hope you can believe me when I say that I deeply regret the events that created the hostility you now feel towards me._

_I am in trouble, Alysia. The Dark Lord has decreed that Draco's first task as a Death Eater is to bring about the death of Albus Dumbledore. Meanwhile, Dumbledore, aware that his injury will kill him eventually, is insisting that I kill him instead._

_I know you are upset, and believe me, I understand why, but I beg you to please cast your anger aside. You are the only person left who I know I can trust._

_Severus_

"THAT ARROGANT BASTARD!" I yelled angrily, tossing the letter to the ground and getting to my feet. "DOES HE HONESTLY EXPECT ME TO JUST ACT LIKE NOTHING HAS HAPPENED?"

I began pacing impatiently as I vented my anger at the cave walls. "Just do what you're told, Alysia, and ignore that burning desire to know the truth about your past, because I've decided you can't handle it!" I muttered mutinously. "Oh, and by the way, I know you hate me, but I still expect you to act like everything is all peachy! Ugh!"

It had been almost a month since I had left home. It unnerved me that my brother had managed to contact me so easily. I made up my mind to find somewhere else to stay as soon as possible.

* * *

It was with minor apprehension that I rapped on the door of an enormous mansion. I did not have to wait for very long before the door was opened.

"Alysia! This is a surprise!" Rabastan said, slightly stunned. I looked sadly up at him.

"Hi Rabastan. Is it okay if I stay here for a few days? I don't really have anywhere else to go," I murmured. Rabastan smiled softly and led me inside.

"There's a guest suite upstairs. You can sleep in there. Are you hungry? I was just heating up some rice pudding," he said.

"Thanks, that would be great. I'm starving," I replied, doing my best to smile. As I pulled my wand out and tried to dry my soaked hair, Rabastan busied himself in the kitchen. After a few minutes, he returned, carrying two steaming bowls. I gave him a grateful smile as we sat down and started eating.

"So, what happened?" Rabastan asked matter-of-factly. I looked up.

"What makes you think something has happened?" I asked, a little more sharply than I intended. However, Rabastan did not appear to be offended by my defensive tone.

"Well, you've run away from home, nobody has heard from you in almost a month, and every time I see Severus, he looks as though he's had a death sentence pronounced on him," he replied simply. I sighed.

"We fell out," I confessed.

"Evidently," Rabastan answered. "But why?"

I lowered my eyes and played with my food. "He's been keeping something from me. I know he has. Plus, he's become an unbearable control freak. He was always on at me about something or other. I just couldn't take it anymore. You have no idea, Rabastan, the amount of strain I've been under this past year. I sometimes wonder whether I made the right decision, running away from Azkaban."

"Are you saying you prefer the company of my freak of a sister-in-law to your own brother?" Rabastan asked incredulously.

"I have no brother," I replied quickly. Rabastan gasped.

"Alysia, you can't mean that!" he exclaimed.

"I do, Rabastan. You don't know the half of what that man has put me through. My life has been made a living Hell because of him. I sincerely hope I never see him again!" I said scathingly.

Rabastan frowned at me. "What are you talking about, Alysia? What do you mean when you say he made your life a living Hell?" he demanded.

"I'd rather not talk about it," I said quietly. "But the reason I'm here is, he found my last hiding place a little too easily. I figured he wouldn't think to look for me here; it is rather obvious."

I stifled a yawn with my hand. "I should probably try to get some sleep," I said, getting up from my chair.

"Sure. Er, the guest suite is straight up the stairs, third door on the right. There's a bathroom next door, in case you need it. Goodnight, Alysia," Rabastan said awkwardly.

I cried myself to sleep that night. I could never in a million years have guessed that I would end up taking refuge here, least of all from someone I should have been able to trust.

* * *

"Alysia?" a voice asked quietly. I slowly opened my eyes and gasped when I saw that Voldemort was standing in the bedroom doorway, gazing down on me.

"My Lord!" I exclaimed, pulling the sheets up to my neck. Voldemort's normally cold stare softened.

"Alysia, let us have no more pretence of this. I do not expect any loyalty from you and I never have," he said simply. I sat up, mildly surprised.

"How did you find me here?" I asked anxiously. A tiny smile could just be seen on his face.

"Rabastan informed me that you were staying here. Now don't be angry, Alysia," he added sternly. "He did so out of mere concern for your wellbeing. You may rest assured that Severus is unaware that you are here."

I was startled. "How do you..."

"I would have been blind had I not noticed the tension between you two. He confessed to me a few days ago that he had used force to bring you to me. There will not be any punishment; technically, he was only obeying my orders. But I can see that his actions have, to put it mildly, caused you a great deal of pain and anguish," he replied. I turned away meekly.

"Please, why did you ask him to convince me to become a Death Eater if you knew I could never be loyal to you?" I asked shyly, staring at the floor. Voldemort hesitated.

"You are like a guardian for something that is very precious to me," he confessed. "I asked for you because you reminded me of someone else I once knew."

"Who?" I asked, unable to hide my curiosity. Voldemort suddenly looked very angry.

"Someone who defied me!" he said scathingly.

I was surprised by Voldemort's bitter outburst. After a few seconds, he turned and left the room. I was alone again.


	20. A Birthday Surprise

**Chapter Nineteen**

**A Birthday Surprise**

The next few days passed by painfully slowly. I occupied myself with trying to find somewhere to stay. However, even I could not contain my excitement when July 28th came. It was my 33rd birthday. Rabastan came into my room before the sun had even risen and woke me up.

"Come on Alysia, get dressed! There are some dresses in the wardrobe. You have to get up! The Dark Lord is expecting everyone to be at Malfoy Manor soon!" he urged desperately.

Reluctantly, I pushed the covers off me and leapt off the bed. "Not a stupid meeting, I hope," I groaned. He shook his head eagerly, but did not elaborate.

"Hurry up, Alysia! We'll be late!" he exclaimed.

"Alright, I'm up!" I replied grumpily. Once I was dressed, I gazed at my reflection in the mirror. With a small smile, I watched as my hair twisted itself into a simple bun. Being a metamorphmagus was a wonderful time-saver sometimes. With that, I raced down the stairs and found Rabastan waiting for me by the front door. With a grin, he took my hand and we both turned into darkness.

* * *

"You alright?" Rabastan asked as I tried to regain my balance.

"You'd think I would be used to Apparating by now," I replied, slightly crossly. Rabastan chuckled and led me inside.

"Rabastan, what's going on?" I demanded as he led me into a dark room. Come to think of it, there didn't seem to be any sign of life anywhere.

"Shh," he whispered, smiling mysteriously as he pulled me towards him.

"I wanted to give you your birthday present before we join the others," he murmured, holding me close to his chest. I could feel his breath on my face as his hands grasped my shoulder blades.

"You don't have to give me anything," I replied softly. He was so close I could have counted the tiny wrinkles around his eyes.

"But I want to, Alysia. It's something I've been wanting to give you for years," he whispered as he gently pressed his lips against mine. I closed my eyes and slowly moved my hand up to his shoulder, kissing him back. Our lips locked for what felt like a lifetime. Finally, slowly, we pulled apart. A contented smile began to form on Rabastan's face as he opened the door and led me through.

"SURPRISE!" was all I heard as the room lit up, revealing a crowd of people. Everyone had dressed up. At the front was Voldemort. He walked forward slowly as I blinked furiously, trying to adjust my eyes to the sudden light.

"Happy Birthday, Alysia," Voldemort said quietly. My jaw dropped open in shock.

"I... I..." I stammered, barely able to find my voice. With a warm smile, Narcissa stepped forward and took my hand.

"We thought you could use a little celebration to help lift your spirits. All Rabastan's idea, of course," she said kindly. I spun and faced Rabastan, the surprise evident on my face.

"This was your doing?" I asked in disbelief. Rabastan nodded.

"I was a bit worried that you might start asking awkward questions, and that would have ruined the surprise. Fortunately, you were a little too preoccupied to be bothered by such petty things that might have given the game away," he said solemnly. I was speechless.

"Wow! Um, thank you! This was... I really had no idea," I stammered. Rabastan chuckled and squeezed my hand.

"You're welcome, Alysia," he replied.

* * *

I really believe I might have actually enjoyed my birthday celebration if Bellatrix Lestrange had not been there. Exhausted from dancing, Rabastan and I had made our way out onto the balcony.

"Thank you, Rabastan. This is the best party I've been to since before I was arrested," I said softly. Rabastan smiled and brushed a loose lock of hair away from my face.

"Anytime, Alysia," he replied. I smiled and gazed out over the grounds.

"I'm going to get a drink. Do you want anything?" he asked.

"I'm alright, thanks," I replied with another smile. As Rabastan turned away, I unconsciously lifted a hand to my neck and fiddled with the locket I was wearing. There had been times when I had been tempted to discard it, to pull it off and throw it away, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

"Happy Birthday, _Angelique_," a female voice taunted behind me. I spun around and glared angrily at the speaker.

"I've told you a million times, Bellatrix. Don't call me Angelique," I said coldly. Bellatrix pretended to be offended.

"I was just being polite, _dear_," she declared, affronted. "Just giving the Dark Lord's pet the respect she apparently deserves."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I demanded sharply. Bellatrix smirked at me.

"Everyone here is well aware that _I_ am the Dark Lord's most loyal and faithful servant. Yet who out of us is his favourite? The dirty little half-blood who spent the best part of thirteen years insulting him!"

I rolled my eyes. "Is that why you hate me so much, Bellatrix? Because my credit with the Dark Lord is obviously so much better than yours? Well believe me, if I'd had my way a few years ago, I wouldn't have any credit with him at all. He expects no loyalty from me, and I offer him none. I will not stoop to hypocrisy just to save my own skin, unlike my _dear_ brother and cousin," I replied curtly.

"Why you filthy half-blood! You disgusting Blood-Traitor!" she shrieked, running at me. Time seemed to grind to a halt as she reached me. I felt her push me back, felt my legs give way as I tumbled over the railing. I screamed as my hands flailed wildly, trying to grasp something, _anything_ that would prevent me from falling.

"ALYSIA!" I heard someone shout desperately. I managed to grip my fingers onto a protruding brick as a shadow covered me. I looked up and saw Severus leaning over the railing. There was a fearful look in his eyes as he lowered his arm.

"Alysia! Take my hand!" he shouted. His voice seemed unnaturally loud. I hesitated and glanced at the ground. If I slipped, it was going to be a long fall.

"Alysia, please!" he cried. I was too frightened to think. My eyes widened as I realised that I was losing my grip on the inch of brick that was all that stopped me from falling.

"Alysia, you're going to have to trust me! Please, just take my hand and let me help you up!" Severus pleaded. There it was. The word 'trust'. He said it like it should have been easy. The very tip of my forefinger was all that now prevented me falling to my death. I swung my free arm up and grabbed Severus' wrist, grasping it for dear life.

"Don't let go, Severus! Please!" I screamed, terrified.

"I've got you, Alysia! I won't let go!" he assured me as he slowly pulled me up. As I scrambled back over the railing, Narcissa ran forward and embraced me. I was so shaken that I started crying.

"Hush, dear. Come on inside," Narcissa soothed. I trembled violently as Narcissa lowered me into a chair. Rabastan knelt in front of me, his eyebrows knotted in concern. He squeezed my hand sympathetically as Severus walked into the room, his hand clenched firmly around Bellatrix's upper arm. His face was full of anger and disgust as he threw her to the floor at my feet.

"Well, Bella," Voldemort said coldly, stepping forward. "My most loyal and faithful servant, are you? Why, then, did you disobey a direct order from me?"

Bellatrix looked up. It was the first time I had ever seen her frightened.

"My Lord, please forgive me. I was not myself," she pleaded.

"You recall, I presume, that I gave all of my Death Eaters specific instructions that Miss Snape was not to be harmed?" Voldemort murmured, his voice trembling with rage.

"My Lord..."

"And that Miss Snape was to be treated with the utmost respect. That I consider her value to me to be immeasurable, regardless of whether she is a true servant to me or not?" he added.

"Master, I beg you..."

"I made it quite clear that the consequences would be severe for any Death Eater who failed to heed my request. It is evident that you did not pay attention to my warning, therefore, you must be punished," Voldemort finished quietly, raising his arm. Bellatrix's eyes widened in terror as she seemed to realise that Voldemort was actually raising his wand.

"Crucio!" he yelled furiously. Bellatrix screamed and writhed in agony. After several minutes, Voldemort stopped the curse and Bellatrix lay panting on the floor.

"Master, please..." she said weakly.

"Have you forgotten my wrath the last time someone was foolish enough to frighten her?" Voldemort demanded. Bellatrix shook her head violently.

"Of course not, my Lord," she replied feebly.

"I should hope not, Bella! Crucio!" Voldemort screamed angrily. I couldn't take it anymore. It was probably more torturous for me to watch than any pain Bellatrix was experiencing.

"Stop it! Please, just stop!" I cried desperately. Everyone stared at me in surprise, especially Voldemort. However, he seemed unfazed as he turned back to Bellatrix.

"Be thankful that Miss Snape has chosen to show you mercy tonight, Bella," he said quietly. Bellatrix lay whimpering on the floor. No one offered to help her to her feet; no one made any attempt to comfort her at all.


	21. Trust And Truth

**Chapter Twenty**

**Trust and Truth**

The remainder of that evening was a blur by the following morning. I awoke to find myself lying on a sofa in the Malfoys' living room. It was at least a minute before I noticed that Severus was asleep in an armchair opposite. As quietly as I could, I pulled myself off the sofa and made my way out onto the rear porch. The sun was just beginning to rise; I could feel it's soft warmth on my face. With a sigh, I leaned against the porch railing, gazing out at the garden. After a few minutes, I heard the door click behind me. A gentle but firm hand rested on my shoulder a second later.

"Are you alright?" a voice asked anxiously. I turned around and saw that the speaker was Severus. I had never seen him look so worried.

"I'll be okay, Severus," I assured him. "Thanks. For last night, I mean," I added awkwardly.

Severus nodded curtly. I shivered as an icy breeze blew past.

"You're cold," he said quietly, grasping me gently by the shoulders and leading me back inside. As Severus guided me into the dining room, the first sound I heard was Narcissa's hysterical shrieking.

"Alysia! Are you alright? I'm so sorry about what Bella did to you last night! I never would have believed it of her!" she cried. I have no doubt that she would have worked herself into a right state had Severus not raised his hand to silence her. I sank gracefully into a chair next to Draco, who looked even paler than the last time I had seen him.

"Draco? Are you unwell?" I asked, concerned. My cousin's son glanced contemptuously at me, before turning abruptly away again. I sighed sadly and got to my feet.

"Aren't you hungry, Alysia?" Narcissa asked, mildly surprised.

"Not very," I lied, gazing at the back of Draco's head. "I should go," I added quietly.

"I'll take you home in a moment," Severus said quickly, giving Draco a stern glance.

"Thanks anyway Severus, but there's something I need to do first. I'll come home in a few days, okay?" I replied. Severus raised an eyebrow.

"If you're absolutely sure, Alysia," he said quietly. I nodded.

"I'll be fine. I promise," I assured him. "I'll see you in a couple of days."

Severus nodded curtly. With a smile, I turned and left.

* * *

Severus and I visited a small village in Surrey a few days after that. I was surprised to hear a vaguely familiar female shriek, and spun around looking for the source of the sound.

"Petunia, dear, calm down," I heard a man say calmly. Severus stiffened slightly at the name. It was familiar, but I could not for the life of me recall where I had heard it. I racked my brains, trying to work out where I had seen this woman before. Then I caught a glance of her face, and realised at once who she was.

"Petunia _Dursley_?" I muttered, slightly confused. I felt Severus grasp my shoulder tightly.

"Not now, Alysia," he hissed. I battled for what felt like hours against the urge to approach her. Just as I made up my mind to follow Severus' advice, however, Petunia spotted us and marched over.

"You! I'm surprised they still let you two walk free! You both deserve to rot in Hell," she yelled hysterically.

"Petunia, if I were you, I'd keep my voice down. I doubt you would want to spend the rest of your life in an asylum," Severus snarled in reply. Petunia glared at him.

"Don't you dare talk to me, you freak!" she shouted.

"I would gladly have spent eternity not talking to you, had you not insulted me," Severus replied, sneering. I could have cut the tension between them with a knife.

"Here," Petunia finally spat. "Your _dear_ freak of a mother left this at my parents house, the last time she visited. _I_ certainly don't want it." She held a tiny phial between her thumb and forefinger, as though its contents disgusted her. Severus snatched it and pocketed it before I could even see what was inside.

"Thank you for returning it. Now, _if_ you'll excuse us, we have something much more important than the hysterical, immature rantings of a muggle to attend to," he said coldly. Petunia looked like she was ready to explode. Sensing danger, I tugged on Severus' sleeve.

"Come on, Severus. We don't want to be late," I muttered. That seemed to make matters worse.

"Oh, thought you'd open your treacherous little mouth, did you?" Petunia demanded, turning to face me directly. "No one asked _your_ opinion, you little murderer," she spat. Severus' grip on my shoulder tightened painfully.

"Care to repeat that, Petunia?" I challenged, frowning. Despite my bravado, inwardly I was confused. What did she mean? Petunia pointed a shaky finger at me.

"How do you think that, that _freak_ found them in the first place? Lily wrote to me, right after her little brat was born, and told me that _you_ were their Secret-Keeper, and to talk to you if I wanted to visit. As if I would!" she spat angrily. I could feel the colour draining from my face. It was true. I had been James and Lily's Secret-Keeper. Until that moment, I had never given it any thought, but I suddenly realised what that meant. Voldemort could not have found the Potters, unless I told him where they were first.

* * *

I waited until after Severus had left for Hogwarts again before I seized my chance. I snuck into my brother's room and found Mum's old pensieve. I also located the phial that he had taken from Petunia. It had not been until a few hours after that confrontation that I had realised the silvery liquid the phial contained had been a memory, and instinct was telling me to find out what that memory revealed. I felt butterflies in my stomach as I opened the tiny bottle and poured its contents into the pensieve. Then, taking a deep breath, I plunged headfirst into the stone basin.

I found myself in a dark room. I could just make out the silhouette of a person sitting by the wall. A door opened behind me. I spun around, and was amazed to recognise Mum entering the room. She was staring fearfully at the silhouette, and I slowly turned to face it too. I almost screamed as I recognised who it was. The light, now permitted into the room by the open door, cast an almost perfect spotlight on the figure.

"Oh, my poor Alysia," Mum whispered, running up to a nineteen-year-old version of me. "Don't be scared, honey. I've come to get you out of here."

I heard footsteps enter the room, and turned hesitantly. So did Mum.

"Tom, please don't do this. Don't punish my little girl. Please, let her go," Mum pleaded.

'_Tom?_' I thought anxiously. '_That's Voldemort! Why is Mum calling her 'Tom', as though they're old friends?_'

"You made your choice, Eileen. This is the price you must pay for your foolish decision," Voldemort answered coldly.

"Please, Tom. I'm begging you, let my Alysia go. Release her from her oath. For my sake?" Mum was literally on her knees, begging him. Voldemort only gave her a cruel sneer.

"Tom, don't do this to me, please. Curse me all you want, but please don't make my daughter into a Death Eater."

"Oh, she will be much more than a mere Death Eater, Eileen. Much more," Voldemort answered with a laugh. Mum's eyes widened.

"No! You cannot possibly be considering... How can you..." she stammered, backing away a few paces.

"Quite easily, Eileen. Perhaps you'd care to watch?" Voldemort replied, sounding slightly amused. Without warning, he slashed his wand, before letting out a tortured howl. Mum started crying.

"My poor baby," she sobbed quietly.

At that moment, I pulled myself out. I had only ever seen pictures of the effects of the spell Voldemort had just used, but I recognised it instantly, and understood what it meant. I made up my mind never to tell anyone if I could help it. I knew only too well that many wizards and witches would not hesitate to kill me if they knew. And I had to confess that, if someone else had been in this situation, I would feel exactly the same.

I was a Horcrux. The only reason Voldemort had tried so persistently to recruit me was to ensure his own immortality. And it appeared that the reason he wanted me was as some sick punishment for my mother.

"Punishment for what, though?" I asked myself anxiously. Then, I decided I didn't want to know.


	22. Flight

**Chapter Twenty One**

**Flight**

"Severus?" I asked gingerly as I entered the gloomy office that my brother called his own. He glanced up, apparently startled by my unexpected appearance. Without waiting for him to invite me in, I stepped inside and sat in the chair in front of his desk.

"Alysia, what are you doing here?" he whispered urgently.

"You haven't written for months, Severus. I was beginning to worry," I murmured as I rummaged through my handbag. Finally, I found what I was looking for. I pulled out a small, oval parcel and placed it deliberately on his desk. Severus frowned at it, before giving me such a look of incredulity that I might have slapped him if I hadn't been so anxious.

"What is this?" he demanded, still speaking in hushed tones.

"It's a two-way mirror, Severus," I replied curtly. "I'm going to stay in Hogsmeade for a while. I want to be able to contact you if the need arises, and I want you to use it if you need me, alright?"

"Alysia Diana Snape, have you gone absolutely _insane_? You're still wanted by the Ministry, remember?" Severus hissed. I rolled my eyes.

"Severus, I've been on the run for almost two years now. I think I can manage to keep a low profile for a little longer. Besides, I can't just sit at home, not knowing what's going on," I declared heatedly. "And let's be honest, dear brother. Once this is over and done with, you're going to be wanted by the Ministry, too. Seems to me, you might be in need of some advice soon, unless you _want_ them to order Dementors to Kiss you!"

"No, I don't, obviously," he replied tartly. I sighed.

"I'll tell you what, then," I told him. "You agree to carry this mirror with you at all times, and to answer it instantly if I try to contact you, and vice versa."

"And what makes you think you won't get caught?" he demanded. I smirked. For an answer, I allowed my hair to shorten slightly. Severus gasped as a fiery red tinge began to run through it, and my eyes turned emerald green.

"Something tells me I'll manage somehow," I replied mischievously. Severus turned away.

"Stop it, Alysia! Stop it now!" he cried in anguish. I caught a glimpse of my reflection in his goblet, and understood. Biting my lip, I forced myself back to normal.

"Sorry," I mumbled. I decided to retreat before Severus could realise he was upset enough to hex me. Grabbing my handbag, I leapt out of my chair and ran out the door.

* * *

"Name, please," Madam Rosmerta said grumpily. I hesitated. It would have been foolish to give my real name.

"Angelica Prince," I improvised wildly, gritting my teeth. Madam Rosmerta raised an eyebrow.

"Room 13. First Floor, by the stairs. Five galleons a night. Seven if you want breakfast brought up to your room," she replied curtly. I gave her some money and thanked her quietly, before making my way upstairs.

* * *

_"Apologise to Evans!" I heard James Potter yell angrily. I fought my way through the crowd, struggling to see what was going on._

_"I don't need you to make him apologise!" Lily shrieked. "You're just as bad as he is!"_

_"WHAT! I'd never call you a – a you-know-what!" James protested._

_"I don't know what she sees in that greasy-haired freak," someone muttered venomously. I spun around and saw that the comment had come from one of Lily's classmates. I chose to ignore it and tried to make my way to the front of the crowd. I managed, just as Lily stormed off._

_"What's her problem?" James demanded. I glared at him as Sirius muttered, "Reading between the lines, I'd say she thinks you're a bit conceited, mate."_

_It was only then that I noticed Severus scrambling to his feet, looking hurt and angry. I frowned as I realised that James must have been bullying him again._

_"Who wants to see me take off Snivelly's trousers?" James asked eagerly. I pulled my wand out as a loud cheer echoed through the crowd._

_"Langlock!" I shouted. James made a retching noise as he and his cronies looked around for the source of the sound._

_"Well, if it isn't little Snapette!" Sirius taunted, leering. I frowned at him._

_"Why don't you lot pick on someone else for a change?" I challenged. "It's getting rather tiresome, you know!"_

_James tried to say something, but was unable to, due to the fact that his tongue was still glued firmly to the roof of his mouth. I smirked as he glared at me._

_"Come on, Sev, let's get out of here. This is starting to bore me," I said scathingly, storming off. Severus followed._

* * *

_"Ouch!" Severus squirmed. I frowned._

_"For goodness sake, Sev, keep still," I scolded as I traced my wand over the scratches that covered his lower leg. __"What happened, anyhow?" I asked. Severus gave me a strange look._

_"You were there," he said grumpily. I pursed my lips._

_"I arrived just in time to see Lily yell at Potter and storm off," I told him curtly._

_"What else is new? Ow!" Severus yelled sharply. I glared at him._

_"Honestly, Sev! If you won't keep still of your own accord, I'll have no other choice but to Stun you," I said wearily. "And by the way, Lily's never stormed off and left you to the lions before, so I would say that is definitely new, wouldn't you?" Severus scowled._

_"I called her a mudblood," he finally confessed. I looked up sharply._

_"You didn't!" I responded, shocked. Severus nodded solemnly. I threw my hands up in despair. "What did you go and do that for?" I exclaimed._

_"I didn't mean to. It was out of my mouth before I even realised what I was saying. I was humiliated..."_

_"So you lashed out at your best friend?" I asked incredulously. "Severus, honestly!"_

_"Yeah, bad idea. I get the point," Severus said irritably._

_"Don't get smart with me, Sev. I'm in a bad enough mood as it is!" I retorted._

_"Lestrange still hasn't noticed you, then?" Severus asked with a smirk. I resisted the urge to hit him._

_"Shut up!" I muttered crossly._

_"Ah, I'm only teasing you, sis," Severus replied, grinning._

_"Nice to know I'm a source of amusement for you, Severus," I said darkly. "For goodness sake, what is that?" I demanded as I noticed a fresh bruise on his knee. Severus hung his head._

_"Before the exam, Pettigrew bumped into me on purpose," he explained._

_"Don't tell me you tried to hex them again," I responded grimly._

_"After he bumped me, they tried to make me apologise, for getting in their bloody way, so I decided to get some practise in muggle duelling," he replied fiercely. I rolled my eyes_

_"Really, Sev, is it that hard to just walk away?" I asked. "They're only doing this because they know you let it get to you."_

* * *

I was awoken by a painful twinge in my left forearm. Wincing, I sat up and rolled up my sleeve. Looking up, I saw a horrible sight. I leapt up off the bed and raced to the tiny window, staring at the sky ahead of me. Sitting threateningly above what I quickly realised was the Astronomy Tower at Hogwarts was the Dark Mark.

"Damn!" I muttered, rummaging in my pockets. Finally, I found a small, oval mirror and held it close to my face.

"Severus Snape!" I snapped. Within seconds, I could see his black eyes staring back at me.

"What the Hell is going on over there?" I demanded. His eyes blinked slowly.

"It's over!" he practically shouted, before his eyes disappeared.

Cursing loudly, I grabbed my wand and bag and raced down the stairs. The moment I was outside, I made a run for the car. Thank Merlin I had decided to drive, rather than use magical transport. As I pulled up near the school gates, I heard Severus shout "Run, Draco!"

I leapt out of the car and ran in the direction of the shouting. I finally saw Draco running wildly. He would have run straight into the perimeter wall had I not called out.

"Draco! Over here! Quickly!" I shouted urgently.

Draco ran, looking over his shoulder as he approached me. When he was in reach, I grabbed his wrist and pulled him to the car.

"Get in!" I ordered frantically, opening the back door. Draco obeyed and I ran around to the other side, leaping into the driver's seat. I stared anxiously toward the school, looking for any sign of Severus. I did not have to wait for him for very long.

"Severus! Over here!" I yelled, turning the key in the ignition. The moment the three of us were safely inside, I slammed my foot down, determined to get us out of there as fast as I could.


	23. Sometimes Memory Lane Can Be Painful

**Chapter Twenty Two**

**Sometimes Memory Lane Can Be Painful**

_I shifted uncomfortably in my seat as Professor Slughorn came in. I didn't understand why half the Seventh Year would be sitting in on an OWL Potions class. Professor Slughorn was, as always, abrupt and went straight to the point._

_"Now, all of you are here because you will be taking either an OWL or NEWT exam in Potions at the end of this year. It is a requirement of the NEWT that students are able to demonstrate an ability to 'teach' others on the relevant subject," he recited. It sounded as though he was bored with what he was saying._

_"For the past few years, I have organised a kind of mentoring program, to help give the NEWT students some practise. Those of you from this year's NEWT class will be paired with someone from the OWL class, and you will work together in Potions this year."_

_I groaned inwardly and snuck a glance at Severus, making faces. He grinned sheepishly as I turned back to the front. Professor Slughorn had already begun 'assigning' mentors to some of my classmates._

_"Now, let me see. Miss Evans, I think we'll have you working with Mr Black," he said thoughtfully. I gave Lily a sympathetic look as she grudgingly made her way over to where Regulus Black was sitting. He was such a pompous idiot that I daresay Lily was in for a torturous year._

_I didn't notice that Professor Slughorn had finally edged his way to where I was sitting until he was standing right in front of me._

_"Hmm. Yes, I know! Mr Black, you'll be working with Miss Snape this year," he announced. I leapt to my feet._

_"No way!" I protested loudly. "There is no way I'm putting up with that arrogant pig for an entire year!" Professor Slughorn suddenly looked very stern._

_"Now, Miss Snape. I know some of these pairings might not be ideal, but part of the point is that you will not be working with your friends. The purpose of the exercise is to encourage a certain level of maturity."_

_"Maturity? Ha! Such a thing is physically impossible where that prat is concerned!" I replied scathingly._

_"Miss Snape, I am very disappointed in you. I would have expected better than this. Ten points will be taken from Hufflepuff for your poor attitude," Professor Slughorn muttered. I scowled angrily._

_"Here's a tip, Snapette. It can be kind of tricky mixing potions if your mind is busy plotting ways to murder your teacher," Sirius whispered viciously. I whipped around and glared at him._

_"Listen, Black, if we are going to have to put up with each other's company for an entire school year, we'd better get a few things straight!" I retorted, slumping violently into my seat. Sirius looked mildly amused as he sat down next to me._

_"Fire away, Snapette," he said enthusiastically._

_"First of all," I began hotly. "My name is Alysia, not Snapette! And you'd do well to remember that!" Sirius laughed._

_"Very well _Alysia_," he replied smugly. "Anything else?"_

_"Second," I hissed, "you can drop that smug attitude right now! Unless you _want_ a good hexing, of course!"_

_"Fair enough, I suppose," Sirius replied. A grin started to form on his face._

_"And finally, if you ask me out one more time, I will _personally_ go through my brother's books and find the most _awful_ curse I can manage, and I might just decide that you would be the perfect person to try it out on!" I finished. The grin that had been there before was gone now._

_"I can't even ask you once?" he asked innocently. I rolled my eyes._

_"That's kind of my point, Black. You must have asked me at least a dozen times a week all of last year. There is just as much chance of me saying 'yes' as there is of Lily deciding to do the same with Potter, so you might as well give up," I explained wearily. Much to my frustration, Sirius' face broke into an even wider grin than before._

_"A very good chance, then," he said confidently. I raised my eyebrows._

_"You really think there is a good chance of Lily agreeing to go out with Potter? I've never heard such a ridiculous idea in all my life!" I exclaimed._

_"Au Contraire, Alysia, have you not noticed the way Lily blushes every time she sees James?" he taunted. "Not unlike the blush evident on _your_ cheeks every time you see _me_!"  
_

_"Git!" I muttered under my breath as Slughorn finished pairing everyone up._

_"So, you will be my girlfriend, then?" Sirius asked, almost arrogantly. I scowled._

* * *

"Wake up!" a sharp voice ordered. I opened my eyes and saw Draco standing over me.

"We need to talk," he said briskly. I blinked slowly and sat up, yawning. He sat down in a chair opposite, staring at me. I was slightly puzzled.

"Why do you hate my father so much?" he demanded. My face fell. I supposed it was only a matter of time before he started interrogating me about this.

"Draco, listen to me very carefully. Your father hurt me a long time ago. He is my cousin, and I would give my life for his sake, but that does not change what he did," I said carefully.

"And what did he do? It must have been simply _awful_, for you to carry a grudge for this long," Draco responded sarcastically. I sighed and tried to think of some way to change the subject.

"Look, how is any of this relevant, Draco?" I asked. He frowned.

"It's relevant because I say so!" he retorted angrily. I closed my eyes as the memories flooded back; memories I had suppressed for such a long time.

* * *

_"Alysia!" Lucius called sharply. I spun around and was surprised to see him looking very angry. He marched straight up to me, a page covered in photographs in his hand._

_"Is this true?" he demanded, shoving the page in my face before throwing it to the ground. Kneeling down, I picked it up._

_"Is what true, Lucius?" I asked nervously. He narrowed his eyes and pointed to one of the larger images. It was of Sirius and me._

_"Yes, Lucius, it's true," I said quietly, finally understanding. Lucius looked absolutely livid._

_"You dare to go out with that Blood Traitor?" he practically shrieked. I glared defiantly at him, but resisted the urge to retort. "Is my own cousin so desperate in her search for a potential husband that she feels obliged to behave like a slut?"_

_That last word felt like an icy knife in my back. "That's a horrible thing to say!" I protested. Lucius smirked._

_"Ah, but honesty always hurts, Alysia," he murmured coldly. I took a step back, shocked that he could insult me so easily. I could feel my eyes beginning to sting painfully._

_"How can you say such a thing, Lucius?" I asked quietly. "I'm your cousin."_

_"You are no cousin of mine! You're nothing but a dirty whore!" he replied scathingly._

_"I love Sirius and he loves me!" I cried. "And by the way, Narcissa wasn't exactly the image of a perfect pureblood before you started 'training her up'!"_

_"You will not say one word against my wife!" Lucius roared angrily. Tears started to stream rapidly down my cheeks. Lucius gave me one final glance of contempt before he spat in my face and stormed away._

* * *

_"Ah, my beautiful lady love!" Sirius greeted enthusiastically, pulling me into a tight embrace. I giggled like a schoolgirl as he planted a gentle kiss on my hand._

_"And what, pray, occurred for you to ask to meet me so urgently?" he asked eagerly. My smile faltered slightly._

_"I'm pregnant," I barely even whispered. Sirius looked momentarily shocked, but then his face broke into an enormous grin._

_"Well, that gives me the perfect excuse then," he declared as he bent down on one knee and held my hand._

_"Sirius?" I asked, slightly confused._

_"Will you grant me the honour of calling you my wife?" he asked solemnly. I was so surprised that I didn't know what to say. It took me over a minute to find my voice._

_"But why?" I whispered. Sirius raised an eyebrow._

_"Because I love you, silly," he replied, his grin widening. I couldn't help but smile._

_"No, I meant, why now?" I explained. Sirius chuckled softly as I pulled him to his feet._

_"I've been wanting to ask you for ages. We Gryffindors might be a brave bunch, but many of us still find that bravery faltering when it comes to matters of the heart. Besides, now just seemed like the perfect time," he explained, grinning sheepishly. I smiled warmly back, but was startled by a noise behind me. I spun around, and was surprised to see Lucius standing there, looking absolutely furious._

_"YOU FILTHY LITTLE SLUT!" he practically screamed as he slashed his wand. I doubled over in pain as his curse struck my abdomen. It was unbearable; it was worse than the Cruciatus Curse. I could feel Sirius struggling to keep me on my feet as I sank to the ground. With barely an ounce of strength left, I looked up into his eyes and saw the worry in his face._

_"I will, Sirius," I managed to whisper, before the world around me turned black._

* * *

_I groaned as my eyes slowly opened, blinking in protest to the incredibly bright light. As my vision focused, I realised that I was lying on a bed, and that Sirius was sitting next to me, watching me anxiously. I slowly pulled myself into a sitting position. My abdomen felt very sore and bruised, and I winced as a sharp pain coursed through my stomach._

_"How are you feeling?" Sirius asked gently. I gave him a weak smile._

_"I've definitely been better," I joked feebly. "What about the baby?" I asked automatically. Sirius' face fell._

_"I'm so sorry, Alysia. The Healers said you had a miscarriage."_

_I would have let out an agonised scream if my voice had let me. Instead, I curled up tightly on the bed and sobbed my heart out. Sirius took my hand and squeezed it gently. Finally, after what felt like hours, the tears stopped flowing. Emotionally exhausted, I lifted my eyes and gazed miserably at Sirius' sympathetic face._

_"At least this means I won't have to tell my parents," I whispered bitterly. Sirius looked confused._

_"What do you mean?" he asked sharply._

_"I hadn't told my parents that I was pregnant, or Severus for that matter. I doubt Mum would have minded too much, but Dad has a very nasty temper. He probably wouldn't have hesitated to beat you to death for it," I explained._

_"I still don't see why you don't want to tell them anything," Sirius said sternly._

_"Are you kidding? What would I say? That I was pregnant, but my cousin attacked me and killed my unborn child? I can't tell my parents that!" I protested._

_"Fair enough, but what about Snivellus? I thought you two shared pretty much everything," he responded. I frowned at the insult directed at my brother, but didn't say anything._

_"I can't tell Severus; he's too protective! He'd kill Lucius if he found out," I said miserably._

_"A fair reward, given what Lucius did to you," Sirius replied darkly._

* * *

"You still haven't answered my question!" Draco practically shouted. His raised voice must have woken Severus, because he stepped into the room mere seconds later, looking grumpy and tired.

"What's with all the noise?" he demanded. I closed my eyes. I didn't need any of this.

"Alysia, why are you upset?" he asked, a little more gently. My eyes flew open and I glared at Draco.

"You want to know what happened between me and your father, Draco? Why don't you bloody ask him? And you, Severus!" I shouted hysterically, leaping to my feet and wheeling around to face my brother. "Perhaps you could be so good as to teach your godson some gratitude! Need I remind you both that, were it not for me, you would probably be staring at the walls of a cell in Azkaban right now!" I added scathingly. The room was suddenly starting to feel claustrophobic. I stormed out, wrenching the back door open.

"Alysia, no!" Severus cried in alarm. Too late; I was already outside. I needed to breathe. I needed fresh air, something I had not been able to have for two whole days. It was a huge mistake.

* * *

**Yes, I know it's taken me a while to get back into this fic, but this chapter (and the one last one) needed a LOT of work before I could post it :)**

**Next Chapter: Severus confides in Alysia about the night James and Lily died, and Alysia makes a surprising confession. Stay tuned to find out what that is :P**


	24. Forgiven

**Chapter Twenty Three**

**Forgiven**

The first thing that struck me was how bitterly cold it was. This was the height of summer, and the middle of the afternoon. Why was it so cold? I felt so depressed; was that because of what had just happened inside? Why did I have this strange feeling, like it would not be possible to feel cheerful, ever again? As I paused to look around me, I heard strangled, rapid breaths. With horror, I realised what must be happening but it was already too late. I had not brought my wand outside with me; I was completely and utterly defenceless. As my eyes drooped heavily, a scene I had never seen before flashed through my mind.

_"No! Lily! James! Get out of there!" I cried desperately as a hooded, cloaked person slowly made their way to the door of a familiar brick townhouse. I started to run across the narrow road, but I was grabbed from behind._

_"It's too dangerous," Severus said quietly. I struggled hard, trying desperately to pull myself away from his grip. The hooded person had opened the door and I could just make out James' silhouette in the hallway. He shouted something, but the wind carried his voice away and I could not hear what he had said. I screamed as I saw a flash of green light._

_"JAMES!" I shrieked, still struggling._

_"There's nothing you can do, Alysia. You can't go in there. It isn't safe," Severus grunted as I tried to force him away. I heard Lily scream as another green light flashed upstairs in what I knew was the nursery._

_"LILY!" I screamed, finally managing to wrench myself out of Severus' grasp. I raced into the house and up the stairs, just in time to hear a cold, high voice yell 'Avada Kedavra'._

_"Oh God! Not Harry too! Please, not Harry too!" I cried. I ran into the nursery, and was bewildered to see Harry sitting there, distressed, but apparently unharmed. My eyes swept the room and I gasped in shock as I spotted Lily lying still on the floor. My knees gave way and I collapsed over her, sobbing. I could hear someone else in the house, shouting, but I was somehow numb to their cries. Finally, a strong hand lifted me up off the ground. As I lifted my gaze and saw that it was Sirius who had helped me up, he stared hard at the arm he was clutching; my left forearm._

_"You little bitch!" he screamed._

* * *

"Alysia? Alysia, wake up!" Severus shouted urgently. I slowly opened my eyes. My vision was blurred and my head ached. Groaning weakly, I pulled myself to my feet, leaning onto Severus for support.

"That was close. Promise me you'll never venture outside without your wand again," Severus said crossly as he helped me back inside.

"My fault... all my fault... Sirius..." I mumbled deliriously as Severus lowered me carefully into a chair.

"What are you talking about?" Severus demanded.

"I'm sorry... should have listened..." I rambled. Severus frowned at me, obviously concerned.

"Alysia, what are you going on about?" he asked anxiously.

"Shouldn't have blamed... my fault... should have listened..." I continued. If I had not been so delirious, I might have noticed that Severus was now gravely concerned for my sanity.

"Alysia?" he questioned, kneeling so that his eyes were level with my own. I looked away. I felt my eyes roll to the back of my head as Severus called out in alarm.

"Draco! In the cupboard under the stairs, you'll find a flask of Revival Potion. Bring it here, now!" he shouted. A few seconds later, my throat burned as though someone was pouring boiling hot water into my mouth. I coughed and spluttered as my eyes opened. I blinked furiously and held my forehead, noticing the relieved look on Severus' face.

"Don't scare me like that!" he scolded.

"I... I think," I started hesitantly. Within a fraction of a second, Severus' expression reverted to one of extreme anxiety.

"Please don't start those delirious ramblings again. You had me worried enough as it was," he said anxiously. I looked up at him and took a deep breath.

"James and Lily. The night they died," I said slowly. "I think I remember being there." Severus instantly turned white with shock.

"What the Hell are you on about?" Draco demanded sharply. The sound of his voice seemed to bring Severus back to his senses. He turned and waved impatiently for Draco to leave the room. As soon as he had done so, Severus crossed the room and closed the door.

"Muffliato," he muttered, before turning back into the room and sitting across from me. I could see that something was bothering him; he avoided looking at me, choosing instead to stare at his hands, which were now folded firmly in his lap.

"You were there," he finally confirmed, so quietly that I almost didn't hear him speak at all. I gaped at him as he looked up.

"You were starting to fight it off," he explained slowly. I didn't need to ask what he meant. "You got it into your head that you had to visit them. I followed you. I don't know why; I just did." Here, he stood and turned towards the window. For almost a minute, he stared silently outside, before turning back to face me, anguish written all over his face.

"I swear, Alysia, I had no idea he was going after them that night. When I saw him there, in Godric's Hollow, I panicked," he said pleadingly. "I tried my hardest to keep you away from that house, but you managed to break away from me. When I saw that third flash of green light, I thought," he took a deep breath. "I feared that was you," he finished heavily. "You have no idea how relieved I was to see you come out of there."

For the first time in years, my heart ached to see Severus so distressed.

"It wasn't your fault, Severus. None of this mess is," I said softly. The determination in my voice seemed to surprise him.

"How can you say that, Alysia? You ended up in this situation because I bloody Imperiused you! I should have known better than that!" he replied bitterly.

"Severus, listen to me," I said firmly. "What you did was wrong, but you cannot blame yourself for what happened after that. You had no more control over it than I."

Severus looked doubtfully at me. "You spent thirteen years in Azkaban because of my stupidity and cowardice. You've hated me ever since, and to be perfectly honest, I can't blame you. Bloody hell, _I've_ hated myself for it; I'd have to be a complete and utter idiot not to expect you to hate me."

"I don't hate you. Not anymore," I said quietly. Severus did a double take at that; he seemed to think he had not heard me correctly. I sighed.

"I'm sorry, Severus. I was hurt and angry over what happened, but I don't _hate_ you. And, if it makes you feel any better, I forgive you."

There. I said it. And as soon as the words had escaped my lips, I knew they were true. I almost regretted them, though, as Severus looked horribly shocked.

"Did... Did you just say what I thought you did?" he finally asked feebly. I smiled my confirmation.

"Personally, I think it's time we moved on from that. Right now, we face a bitter fight for our lives, and our chances of winning are slim enough without constantly being at each other's throats over something that happened nearly sixteen years ago," I explained.

After a few seconds, Severus' lips curled into a smile. I smiled back.

"We've been awfully childish, haven't we?" I asked, grinning. Severus laughed.


	25. Lucky

**Chapter Twenty Four**

**Lucky**

"Alysia?" I heard Severus ask gently. I opened my eyes and sat up in bed, surprised to see Severus standing in the doorway, and carrying a tray of food, no less.

"What time is it?" I asked, frowning slightly. Severus smiled as handed me the tray.

"It's a little after ten. Thank goodness you're awake at last. I was worried that Draco might have snuck a Sleeping Draught into your dinner last night. He's still pretty angry. Which reminds me," he said curiously. "You never did tell me why you got so mad at Lucius."

"I already told you, Severus," I muttered as I set the tray onto my lap. "We had a disagreement."

"And you still hate him for it?" Severus asked, raising an eyebrow. "In case you've forgotten, you and I had a very serious 'disagreement', which resulted in you hating, no, _despising_ me for over thirteen years, yet we still managed to be civil most of the time. You can't even look at Lucius without wanting to yell at him for one thing or another."

"I don't want to talk about it," I said automatically. Severus sat down and gave me a concerned look.

"I'm not Dad, Alysia," he said. I sighed.

"It's not that, Severus. It's just; I still get really upset, even thinking about it. He hurt me very badly, you know." Severus squeezed my hand sympathetically.

"I'll tell you what, then. You don't have to say anything; just let me see it for myself," he said gently. I looked fearfully at him.

"Promise you won't get angry?" I pleaded, before allowing myself to focus on the memory of what had happened.

-----

_"That's a horrible thing to say!"_

_-----_

_"You are no cousin of mine! You're nothing but a dirty whore!"_

_-----_

_"I'm pregnant."_

_-----_

_"Will you grant me the honour of calling you my wife?"_

_-----_

_"YOU FILTHY LITTLE SLUT!"_

_-----_

_"I'm so sorry, Alysia. The Healers said you had a miscarriage."_

I closed my eyes, unable to bear it any longer. When I finally opened them again, Severus was alarmingly pale. For almost five whole minutes, he sat silently still, as though paralysed. When he eventually opened his mouth to speak, his voice trembled so violently that it frightened me.

"I hope he realises how lucky he is to be safely locked away," he growled furiously.

* * *

The next few days passed with Severus maintaining a cold silence. I could tell he was still incredibly angry. Even Draco tried to keep out of his way. Our lives in general became very tense; even creaking floorboards made me jump, and I hardly managed to get any sleep at all.

I bit my lip anxiously when the doorbell rang one afternoon, a little over a week later. After glancing nervously at Severus, I went to answer it; we had agreed that neither Severus nor Draco should answer the door, at least until things died down a little. I gasped when I saw that our visitor was Lucius. Wasn't he supposed to be in Azkaban?

"Good afternoon, Alysia," he greeted wearily. I looked over my shoulder briefly, before turning back to him.

"Now isn't a good time, Lucius," I barely even whispered. "Severus is in a frightful temper. I really don't think you should be here." Lucius only raised his eyebrows.

"This isn't a social visit, Alysia. I'm here to collect my son," he said bluntly. I nodded slowly.

"Wait here," I instructed quietly, before turning back into the house. I paused at the door to the living room, where I knew Draco was, bracing myself. After a few seconds hesitation, I swung the door open and entered the room.

"Draco, your father is here. Please gather your things quickly so he can take you home," I murmured anxiously. I hoped to goodness that Severus would remain in the kitchen until after they had left. Unfortunately, my wish was not going to come true. I closed my eyes as I heard something smash, followed seconds later by Severus' angry shouting.

"You aren't welcome here, Lucius!" he practically screamed. I ran back into the hallway just in time to see Lucius sneer at him.

"Not the most polite greeting you could give your cousin, Severus," he replied coldly. I gasped as Severus quickly turned red with rage, pointing his wand firmly at Lucius.

"Severus, don't!" I cried in alarm. He did not appear to hear me.

"So, when it's convenient for you, we're your family, are we?" he demanded. "Funny how easily you discard us whenever it suits you!" Lucius frowned.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, looking slightly confused. Severus tightened his grip on his wand.

"Severus, please don't do this. It's not worth it," I pleaded. Lucius glanced incredulously at me.

"What's going on Alysia?" he asked.

"DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT TALKING TO HER!" Severus bellowed. "YOU COULD HAVE KILLED HER, LUCIUS!"

I bit my lip. I could see that this was spiralling out of control. I just wanted it to stop.

"_WHAT?_" Lucius shrieked, stunned.

"_You are no cousin of mine! You're nothing but a dirty whore!_" Severus quoted furiously. "Those were your exact words!" Lucius glared at me.

"You told him?" he demanded. Tears began to stream down my face.

"Severus, please calm down! This isn't going to solve anything," I begged.

"She didn't tell me anything, Lucius! She didn't have to!" Severus shouted. "You could have bloody killed her with that curse! In fact, you almost did! I _saw_ the state she was in afterwards, while she was laying unconscious in St Mungo's! The Healers weren't sure whether she would wake up or not!"

"STOP IT!" I finally screamed. Both men stood their ground, ignoring me. My eyes widened as Severus raised his hand slightly; he was going to curse Lucius. Without even thinking about it, I leapt between my brother and my cousin.

"Get out of the way, Alysia," Severus said angrily.

"Put your wand away, and I'll think about it," I replied fiercely. Severus flinched at my defiance, but finally lowered his arm, stowing his wand reluctantly in his robes.

"Now go and see if Draco is ready to leave yet," I instructed firmly. I was immensely relieved when Severus obeyed.

"How is it he knows if, as he claims, you said nothing to him?" Lucius asked quietly. I spun around and gasped at the fear in his face. I had never known him to be even remotely anxious about anything, except perhaps his appearance.

"He's a Legilimens, Lucius. You know this," I replied quietly.

"You expect me to believe he simply decided to look into your thoughts, at a moment when you were conveniently thinking about that?" Lucius demanded. "Do you take me for a fool, Alysia?"

I frowned. "What's done is done, Lucius. It doesn't matter how he found out. All that matters is that he knows. If I were you, I'd steer well clear of him for a while; this is one temper that won't dissipate easily," I said.

Severus returned a moment later, pushing Draco in front of him. There was a coldness in his eyes that alarmed me. It was something I had seen many times growing up, but I had never seen it in my brother before.

"Take your son and get the Hell out," he growled. Lucius hesitated, glancing sideways at me.

"Alysia..." he began.

"Please, Lucius, just go," I mumbled anxiously. The sooner he left, the better chance I had of convincing Severus to calm down. Lucius gave me one final, worried look, before he turned around and led his son out to the street. I think perhaps he had sensed it too. I slowly pushed the door closed, dreading the explosion that I knew would occur the moment I turned around. I was not disappointed.

"Why in Merlin's name did you stop me, Alysia? He almost killed you, and you just let him walk away!" Severus screamed. I stared at him, wide-eyed and frightened. Never in a million years could I have guessed that he could be so angry.

"I can't believe you never told me about this! I asked you! _Mum and Dad_ asked you, and you said you didn't see whoever it was! You lied to us, Alysia! Why the Hell did you do that?"

I bit my lip and stared meekly at the floor. Having grown up in a house where tempers frequently ran high, I had learnt at a young age not to aggravate the situation if I could help it. My silence only served to make matters worse, however.

"Why did you lie about this? Answer me!" he yelled, grabbing my shoulders. I whimpered as he started shaking me hard. I could feel the bruises starting to form where he was holding me. He threw me back and spun around, agitated. I let out a cry as my back hit the wall. I slid down to the floor, tears falling like rivers down my cheeks. Severus turned back to me, looking absolutely mortified at what he had just done.

"Oh God, Alysia, I'm sorry!" he said desperately. He leaned down to help me to my feet and hugged me tightly. "Please don't cry," he begged as I sobbed into his shoulder.

"I'm sorry. I just... lost it," he stammered. "I couldn't believe that Lucius could have done such a thing, and then for him to just show up like that. I... I snapped."


	26. Marry Me First

**AN: I cannot believe I am so close to the end of this story; just six more chapters to go. I always feel a bit sad when I get to this point. Enjoy (and please review :P)****Chapter Twenty Five**

* * *

**Marry Me First**

I jumped sharply when the doorbell rang again. Severus let me go so I could answer it.

"Hi Alysia. Is this a bad time?" Rabastan asked awkwardly, frowning at the tearstains on my face. I smiled slightly and shook my head.

"Not at all. Come on in," I replied, standing aside so he could enter. He smiled as he passed me.

"Severus, Rabastan is here," I called as I closed the door. Severus came back into the hallway to greet our visitor, managing a pleasant smile.

"Afternoon, Severus," Rabastan greeted politely. "Er, could I have a word?"

I was slightly puzzled by Rabastan's formal tone, but excused myself.

"I'll just get us some drinks. You know where the living room is, Rabastan. Make yourself comfortable," I invited, making my way into the kitchen. After a few minutes, I placed the drinks onto a tray and carried it out towards the living room. I noticed the door was closed, however, I paused before I opened it, as I heard a hushed conversation inside.

"I hardly see why you would need to ask me about it. She's more than capable of making such a decision for herself," Severus said quietly.

"It's tradition, Severus," Rabastan responded irritably.

"No, the tradition is to ask the father," Severus replied curtly.

"Yeah, I know, but I can't very well do that, can I?" Rabastan asked, sounding slightly agitated. "I mean, nobody has seen the bloke for almost ten years. He could have died, and no one would know the difference!"

There was an awkward silence. I couldn't help but wonder what they were talking about.

"Look, if you really want to do this, then I wish you luck, and I hope she responds favourably. But if you even _consider_ hurting her, you will regret it. Let that serve as your warning."

Another silence. Finally, Severus muttered, "Where has she got to? I thought she was just making drinks."

I took that to mean that it was safe for me to enter the room. After a few seconds' hesitation, I pushed the door open.

"Sorry I took so long," I said cheerfully. "Severus, you put the cups in the wrong cupboard again," I added sternly. I saw Severus cringe slightly and smiled at Rabastan as I sat down.

"So, to what do we owe the pleasure of your company today?" I asked.

Rabastan gave Severus a nervous glance, but when he turned to me, he was grinning broadly.

"Well, as it happens, I have something for you, Alysia," he said mysteriously.

"What is it?" I demanded, slightly cheekily.

Rabastan chuckled. "You can have it on one condition," he said.

"And what is this condition?" I asked, smiling playfully. Rabastan suddenly looked very stern.

"You have to marry me first," he said seriously. My jaw dropped. To say I was shocked would have been a grave understatement. Part of me feared this was some sick joke, only I knew Rabastan wasn't like that. I struggled for what felt like hours to find my voice.

"Rabastan, I... I don't know what to say," I finally stammered. Rabastan raised his eyebrows and grinned.

"I would have thought the obvious answer was 'yes', Alysia," he replied cheekily. I couldn't help but let out a nervous laugh.

"Well, I guess that will have to do. I can't really think of any other possible response," I said with a smile. Rabastan smiled back.

* * *

As August drew to a close, I asked Severus to come to our house. I had some news, and I wanted to be able to tell him and Rabastan at the same time.

"Oh goodness, that must be him! I'll get it!" I shouted excitedly when the doorbell rang. I hadn't seen Severus since the wedding, and I couldn't wait.

"Well, I'm glad to see I've caught you in a good mood," Severus greeted me with a smile. I grinned and showed him inside.

"Why is it you can never simply be on time, Severus?" I asked, pretending to scold him. "You're always either frightfully early or frightfully late!" I had not expected his arrival for another hour.

"But you made this sound so _urgent_, Alysia," he teased.

"And it is," I replied, grinning. "Come on!"

Severus rolled his eyes at my childish excitement, but followed me to our newly furnished living room. Rabastan joined us a few minutes later. Severus glanced at him, apparently hoping for an explanation. I smirked to think that Rabastan was just as much in the dark as him.

"My wife has been acting very strangely for a few days, Severus," he explained. "If I didn't know better, I'd say she was keeping something from me." I giggled as Severus shot me an incredulous glance.

"Alysia?" he questioned. A cheeky grin formed on my face as I turned to face Rabastan.

"What would you say if I told you we needed another bedroom?" I asked mischievously. Rabastan looked puzzled.

"Alysia, what do you mean?" Severus asked me, frowning slightly. I giggled again, but I couldn't hold it in any longer.

"Congratulations, Rabastan, you're going to become a father!" I blurted happily. His jaw dropped in disbelief.

"I... you... what?" he finally stammered. I grinned.

"Whoa! Congratulations, both of you," Severus managed to say. I could tell that he, too, was having difficulty finding his voice.

"We've barely been married for six weeks, and you're already pregnant?" Rabastan asked weakly. I nodded enthusiastically. Rabastan sank back into his chair, still apparently unable to believe it.

"Honestly, anyone would think I was telling you _bad_ news!" I exclaimed. Rabastan laughed shakily.

"No, I'm happy about this, Alysia. Really I am. It's just not quite sinking in yet," he explained. I raised my eyebrows.

"Well, it better start sinking in soon, darling. I want us to be as ready as possible when the baby is born," I replied cheekily. Rabastan smiled.

"As you wish, love," he said softly.


	27. Just Like Your Mother

**Chapter Twenty Six**

**Just Like Your Mother**

I hadn't seen Lucius since the day he came to collect Draco from Spinner's End, so it is hardly surprising that I was startled when he turned up on our doorstep one afternoon, about seven months later. I was more startled still to discover the reason for his visit.

"The Dark Lord has ordered everyone to the Manor immediately," he said anxiously. He was wringing his hands, and could not seem to look Rabastan or me in the eye. I gasped as I noticed a long gash on his arm.

"What happened to your arm, Lucius?" I demanded. He turned away from me and mumbled something that sounded like "damned Potter boy."

"Well, I'm not going anywhere looking like this," I said moodily. My hair was an absolute mess, and I needed a shower, desperately.

"He said now, Alysia," Lucius replied curtly. I rolled my eyes.

"Fine. But if he says anything, I'm pointing the blame squarely at you," I responded tartly, before turning to my husband.

"I'll have to meet you there. I really shouldn't be Apparating; you remember how ill I was last time," I added. Rabastan nodded before he Disapparated. With a sigh, I made my way to the fireplace.

"Malfoy Manor," I said wearily, allowing the green flames to engulf me. I coughed as the flames died away, leaving me covered in soot. I did my best to dust it off as I stepped out into the room, finally stopping next to Rabastan. I was mildly surprised to find that Lucius was not in the room; hadn't he just left home with Rabastan? However, my question was answered a moment later, as Lucius appeared, followed by a livid-looking Severus a few seconds after. I looked around the room, hoping for some clue as to why we had all been ordered here, and at such short notice, no less, but everyone I saw seemed just as much in the dark as me. Narcissa, Lucius, Draco and Bellatrix all cowered together in a corner. I frowned; what had happened?

"Thank you for coming so punctually," a voice said curtly. I spun around and saw Voldemort striding into the room, looking incredibly angry. I could sense the tension in the room as he surveyed us all very carefully, before pointing at the Malfoys and Bellatrix.

"You are here because those four have been incredibly careless. Not only did they fail to notify me _immediately_ that they were holding the Potter brat and his friends here, but they also allowed them to escape. As such, I have asked you here to bear witness to their punishment, and to issue a new order with regards to the matter," he said, amid gasps and murmurs. I suddenly realised where Lucius' injury had come from.

"From now on, if anyone spots Potter, or even _thinks_ they _might_ have spotted him, they are to send for me instantly. To those of you who might be tempted to disobey, let this serve as a warning," Voldemort declared, raising his wand.

I could not bring myself to watch what happened next. Voldemort sent curse after curse at the Malfoys and at Bellatrix. Gashes ripped through their skin, and within minutes, any part of them that was not bleeding profusely was swollen and bruised. I was unable to bear it; this was my cousin and his family who were being tortured so cruelly.

"ENOUGH! PLEASE, MAKE IT STOP!" I screamed. I was stunned at the words that had just come out of my mouth, and judging by the reactions of those around me, so was everyone else in the room. I ignored them, running forward and kneeling in front of Draco, who was beginning to slip out of consciousness. I did my best to heal the deep cuts that covered him, not noticing footsteps behind me.

"Who would have thought, Alysia, that you would grow up to be a fool just like your mother?" Voldemort asked coldly. I spun around, completely disarmed by his comment.

"What did you just say?" I demanded. He sneered.

"You're just as foolish as your mother before you. More so, even. One of my fondest memories is of her _begging_ me to release her dear, beloved daughter from her obligations to me. Well, like mother, like daughter, I suppose!" he finished, laughing cruelly. I rose slowly to my feet, absolutely furious.

"Don't you dare say one word against my mother,_ Tom_!" I growled angrily. No one, I repeat, _no one_ insults my mother and gets away with it.

Voldemort had a cruel smile on his face. "I thought Hufflepuffs were supposed to be loyal, Alysia," he muttered sarcastically.

"And I thought Slytherins were supposed to be ambitious!" I retorted, unable to control my fury. "I don't see any ambition before me, only a power-hungry, hypocritical _control freak_!" My sharp tongue earned me a slap across the face. The force of the strike sent me to the floor, and I gingerly raised a hand to my stinging cheek as Rabastan spoke up.

"My Lord, if you think I am going to stand by and watch you treat my wife like that, you are sadly mistaken," he said firmly, though his voice shook slightly with anger. I gave him a grateful look as Voldemort turned back to glare at me.

"Insolent half-blood brat," he spat. That did it. All those months I had spent pretending to be courteous, even loyal, were thrown out the window as I stood again.

"You have made a grave error in your judgement today, my Lord," I said scathingly. I ignored the stunned gasps that echoed around the room. I didn't care if Voldemort was made angry by my defiance, and I didn't stick around to find out. I turned on my heel and stormed out. When I got outside, I turned to look behind me, and was slightly surprised to see Rabastan, Severus and Lucius standing there.

"What are you all doing out here?" I demanded, a little more harshly than I had intended. Rabastan was the first to speak.

"You're my wife Alysia. I will not abandon you, not now, not ever," he said fiercely.

"It's all very well to say that, Rabastan," I began, "but he'll kill all three of you if you don't go back in there right now."

"Let him," Lucius said quietly. "Family comes first, Alysia."

I blinked slowly. It had been almost seventeen years since I had last heard those three words. I gazed at the three men standing before me, unsure of what to do. I knew I could not force them to go back inside, but still, they were all I had left. I did not want to lose them.

"So what are we going to do, Alysia?" Severus asked me. I glanced at him, and an idea suddenly occurred to me. There was only one person I could think of who might just be able to help me make sense of what I was thinking, and I was pretty sure I knew where he could be found.

"First, we're going to get some answers," I replied.

* * *

"Where are you taking us, Alysia?" Rabastan asked anxiously. I continued driving in silence. I had a perfectly good reason for not telling them where we were going; I knew Lucius and Severus would both explode if I opened my mouth. I was nervous enough about how they would react when they saw for themselves, but I had decided to deal with that when it happened. Finally, I pulled up and undid my seatbelt outside a small cottage.

"Rabastan, Lucius, wait here," I instructed clearly. "Do not under any circumstances leave the car. Severus, come with me, and for goodness sake, try to keep your temper under control."

Severus frowned, clearly wanting to know why I would be bothering to say such a thing. I sighed. He would know soon enough.

"This is where I came when I first left the Order," I explained as I led him up to the building. "I never did work up the courage to knock on the door, though." Biting my lip, I raised my hand and rapped on the door. I heard Severus gasp and felt him clutch my shoulder tightly as it opened to reveal a grey-haired man with a hooked nose and cold, black eyes.

"Good morning, Dad," I greeted awkwardly.

* * *

**AN: Phew! This chapter almost killed me, but then I remember all the people who are reading this story, and I know that it was worth it. Please review now (I'm literally on my knees, begging you :P)**


	28. Premature

**Chapter Twenty Seven**

**Premature**

Dad seemed at a loss for words to see us there. Finally, after almost five minutes, his face broke into a broad smile and he pulled me into a tight hug.

"Good grief, I thought I'd never see you again," he choked. I could sense Severus seething behind me as Dad released me and led us inside.

"Alysia, what are we doing here?" he hissed. I turned back and gave him a fierce look.

"We need answers, Severus. And Dad might be the only person left alive who can provide them," I whispered back, before following Dad into the poorly kept back garden.

"How did you find me, little Angelique?" Dad asked, sitting at a little table. I cringed as I sat opposite him.

"Don't call me Angelique, Dad. I'm not four years old anymore," I muttered. Dad only smiled.

"So what brings you two here?" he asked. I stiffened slightly and turned to glance up at Severus, who stood leaning against the wall, glaring coldly down at Dad.

"It's kind of a long story," I muttered. "But I'll get straight to the point. Do you know anything about Mum's friends or classmates when she was at school? In particular, someone called Tom?"

Dad looked surprised. "Why do you want to know about that?" he asked stiffly. I hesitated. I didn't want to bring on another of Dad's notorious tempers if I could help it, but it might be unavoidable.

"Please, Dad, it might be important," I said pleadingly. He frowned and got to his feet.

"This is about that Riddle jerk, isn't it?" he demanded.

"What Riddle jerk?" Severus asked sharply. His hatred of Dad seemed momentarily forgotten; his cold stare was replaced by shock. Dad sneered.

"He was the same age as your mother. Creepy little freak, he was. Fancied himself an aristocrat or something; he was always insisting everyone call him Lord something-or-other, I can't remember what it was now. Seemed to fancy your mother, see."

I glanced incredulously at Severus, who was frowning.

"Made a couple of moves on her, _after_ I had married her, mind. She turned him down, of course. He didn't like that. He told her she was a fool, and that she would pay for it," Dad continued. "Stubborn little bastard. Tried three times to convince her to leave me, always with the same result."

Something stirred within my mind; a memory long forgotten. I bit my lip.

'_This is not good. This is not good at all_,' I thought anxiously.

"We had better be going, Alysia," Severus remarked, pulling me out of the chair.

"It was good to see you again, Alysia, Severus," Dad said sadly. I felt Severus stiffen slightly, ushering me back through the house towards the street.

"Severus, do you remember that prophecy Voldemort was so obsessed with a couple of years ago?" I asked. Severus nodded. I hesitated, before telling him, "I need to know the full and exact wording."

"No one knows the whole thing," he replied quickly. I frowned.

"Don't you dare lie to me. This might be a matter of life and death," I scolded. "You heard half of it yourself, and Dumbledore heard the whole bloody thing."

"Yeah, well unfortunately, Dumbledore is dead," Severus said harshly. His temper was rising to the surface, but he wasn't going to scare me off the subject that easily.

"For the love of Merlin, use that brain of yours, Severus!" My voice was starting to rise dangerously, and I fought hard to control my own temper. "You are Headmaster at Hogwarts! You have his portrait in your office!" Severus' eyes widened in alarm.

"No, Alysia! No bloody way!" he yelled.

"_The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will come soon, born as the seventh month dies, born to those who have thrice defied him_," I recited, much to his shock.

"How did you know?" he asked quietly.

"Because the night you came home from your job interview with Dumbledore, you were muttering it in your sleep. Severus, did you pay _any_ attention to what Dad just said? Do you have any idea what it might mean?" I asked hysterically.

"Alysia, calm down," Severus hissed. "Fine, if it means that much to you, I'll ask, but don't be disappointed if he refuses."

I gave Severus a grateful look and led him to the car. It was only when I reached the door that I realised Lucius was not inside.

"Damn! Rabastan, where is Lucius?" I demanded. Rabastan looked nervously at Severus.

"He saw who answered the door," he murmured. With horror, I turned back and ran into the house, pulling my wand out as I reached the door.

"Lucius?" I heard Dad ask. He was clearly surprised. I bit my lip and pulled the door open.

"Lucius, I told you to stay in the car!" I shouted, ignoring the stunned expression on Dad's face.

"Where have you been all these years, _Uncle_?" Lucius demanded. "Hiding out here like the no-good coward you are? Do you even _know_ your wife is dead?" I stared at my cousin, furious.

"Lucius, get back to the car. We have to go!" I ordered. My cousin's disobedience annoyed me. "_Now_, Lucius!"

I was infuriated that he was ignoring me. However, my anger was momentarily forgotten as I doubled over in pain. Lucius seemed to realise what was happening even before I did, and rushed me outside. Severus came running up the moment we reached the door.

"Merlin's beard! What happened?" he demanded.

"I think she's going into labour, Severus," Lucius replied grimly.

"But she's not due for another four weeks!" Severus said sharply. I clenched my fists so tightly that my nails dug painfully into my palms.

"Get her into the car, Severus. I'll fetch Narcissa; she'll know what to do," Lucius murmured. Severus nodded and obeyed. The moment I was seated, I clamped my eyes shut. I felt Rabastan squeeze my hand as I struggled to keep my breathing steady.

"Breathe, Alysia. Just breathe," he murmured gently. The pain dulled slightly, and I opened my eyes again. I was hardly surprised to see that Lucius was already back, with a very anxious Narcissa by his side. She pulled a small phial out of her robes.

"Drink this, Alysia. It's a mild Sleeping Draught," she said softly. "We need to get you home, but it wouldn't be safe to move you while you're conscious." I nodded and let her pour the potion into my mouth.

* * *

When I woke up, I was lying in the bed that Rabastan and I shared. Narcissa smiled softly as I slowly pulled myself up into a sitting position. As my eyes scanned the room, they rested on my husband, who sat on the other side of the bed, clutching a tiny bundle in his arms. He smiled and passed it to me, placing it gently in my waiting arms. I managed a tired smile as the tiny baby I was holding gurgled happily.

"Congratulations, Alysia. You have a healthy baby girl," Narcissa said quietly. Words could not describe the joy that swelled in me as I gazed down at my baby daughter. After a few seconds, there was a knock on the door. Narcissa went to open it, and Severus stepped in, followed closely by Lucius.

"Does she have a name yet?" Lucius asked, slightly cheekily. I gave a small laugh and turned to Rabastan.

"We agreed on the name Angelica for a girl," he muttered. Severus moved forward and gave me a hug.

"Read this only when you're alone, Alysia," he whispered in my ear, discreetly pressing a folded piece of parchment into my hand. He leaned forward and kissed his niece on her forehead, before he and Lucius left the room. Narcissa and Rabastan followed suit a few seconds later. I looked down at the parchment that Severus had just given me and unfolded it slowly, gasping at the words written on it.

_The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will come soon, born as the seventh month dies, born to those who have thrice defied him, and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not, and either must die at the hand of the other, for neither can live while the other survives._

I could feel my face growing hot as I read the words again.

"No, it can't be," I muttered, realisation washing over me. "Oh God," I murmured. I knew exactly what this meant, even if nobody else ever would. Voldemort had assumed that Harry Potter was the ultimate threat to him, but he was wrong. Merlin, he was woefully wrong.


	29. Avada Kedavra

**Chapter Twenty Eight**

**Avada Kedavra**

I scarcely saw Severus after that; he was very busy trying to run that school. He did visit as often as he could, and I always avoided answering his questions about the prophecy. It had taken so long to repair our relationship, and I truly feared what might happen if I told him my suspicions. So I changed the subject every time it came up.

My spirits sank into such a state of melancholy that Lucius insisted on visiting every day. I think he privately feared that Rabastan might have become violent towards me. A logical assumption to make, I suppose. I had grown up with a violent father, and had even considered marrying a violent boyfriend. I was touched by my cousin's obvious concern, but it did not help me to feel any better.

Little Angelica was just eleven weeks old when Severus contacted me. I had almost forgotten the two-way mirror I had given him, mere hours before Dumbledore had died.

"He's here, Alysia. The other staff have forced me out, fearing treachery. I do not think they can hold him off for very long, so I am going to stay and do everything I can. Please stay home tonight," he pleaded.

"I can't just sit here, not knowing," I muttered anxiously, as I tried to rock little Angelica to sleep. "But what am I going to do? I can't take you with me, and your father isn't home right now. Damn, he's probably there, too, and everyone else who might have been willing to watch you will be there; I'm sure of it." I sighed and paced the room, trying to decide what to do. Finally, I made up my mind and walked calmly to the fireplace, my baby still in my arms. I practically shouted my destination, before allowing the flames to engulf me.

* * *

"You!" a hysterical voice shrieked. I stepped nervously out into the room to see Andromeda Tonks pointing her wand at me. Her hand trembled violently, but she lowered her wand when she saw what I was carrying.

"Please, Andromeda, help me. I just need you to watch my daughter for a while. If something happens to me, I expect my husband or brother will collect her. I can't stand not knowing what's going on," I pleaded. Andromeda's expression softened and she gently took the child out of my arms.

"I love you, my little Angel," I whispered, choking back tears as I gently kissed my baby's forehead. I knew there was every chance I would never see her again, and my heart broke at the thought.

"Thank you," I barely even whispered to Andromeda, before turning into darkness.

* * *

Hogwarts School was a chaotic mess when I arrived. Everywhere I looked, I saw people duelling. There were bodies all over the place, simply lying where they had fallen. I jumped as a hand touched my shoulder.

"Good God, Lucius, you bloody scared me!" I exclaimed. Lucius frowned at me.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded.

"Where is Severus?" I asked, choosing to answer his question with one of my own. Lucius pointed anxiously behind me. I spun around and saw that he was pointing at the Whomping Willow.

"The Dark Lord sent for him," he muttered grimly. I ran as close as I dared, hiding in shadows. An icy breath on my neck told me that Lucius had done the same.

"Why aren't you at home, Alysia? You could be killed!" he hissed.

"Don't you think I already know that?" I demanded harshly, not taking my eyes off the tree. I frowned when Voldemort eventually appeared from the opening. I expected Severus to follow soon after, but he did not. Biting my lip, I rose to my feet, only to have Lucius pull me down again.

"Are you crazy? What are you doing?" he whispered as Voldemort passed us.

"Something's wrong," I muttered. Pulling my wand out, I made a dash for the tree and raced through the passage as fast as I could, calling for Severus all the time.

"Severus, where are you?" I yelled as I reached the Shrieking Shack and began to climb the stairs. I looked fearfully into every room until I finally spotted a pool of blood seeping under one door. My eyes widened as I pushed it open and I almost screamed at the sight that awaited me there.

Severus lay still on the floor, blood flowing profusely from his neck. His black eyes stared blankly at the ceiling. I raced forward and knelt over him, dropping my wand in my shock.

"Severus? Severus, answer me!" I shouted, grabbing his shoulders. No response.

"Damn it, Severus, this isn't funny!" I scolded, my despair increasing rapidly. Still nothing.

"No! This can't be happening! Severus, please, snap out of it!" I begged. My throat was becoming constricted as cold, harsh reality began to set in.

"SEVERUS!" I screamed, for all the good it would do. I could not deny it any longer. My brother was dead. Voldemort had called him up here, only to kill him. That knowledge brought such a rage into my veins as I had never experienced. Voldemort had taken my friends, and now he had taken my own flesh and blood. At that moment, I didn't care anymore whether or not I survived. My only regret was that my daughter would never know me, but I knew Rabastan would raise her well. I couldn't bring myself to contemplate the possibility that he, too, might never make it home. He _had_ to still be alive. I couldn't bear to think anything else.

And so, with nothing but cold hatred burning within my chest, I traced Voldemort's footsteps, following him deep into the Forbidden Forest. I held my wand tightly, listening for any sign of him, until I finally heard someone speak.

"No sign of him, my Lord," they said. I did not recognise the voice, but I knew perfectly well who they were talking to.

"YOU BASTARD!" I yelled, running forward, my wand aloft. "YOU KILLED HIM! I'LL KILL YOU!"

I didn't see Voldemort move his wand, but I didn't need to. I saw the green light speeding towards me. I saw the surprise in Voldemort's face melt into terror as he seemed to realise who his target had been. And the last thing I ever saw was the horror in Rabastan's eyes, before I crumpled to the ground and the world around me turned black.

* * *

My eyes were clamped shut. I could feel soft grass beneath me, which meant nothing at first, until I remembered that the area of the Forbidden Forest I had been in before was almost barren. I slowly opened my eyes and lifted my head, trying to take in my surroundings. The place seemed vaguely familiar, but I could not seem to recognise it. I was nowhere near Hogwarts; of that I was certain. I got to my feet and turned slowly, staring around me.

"It's rude to stare, you know," a familiar voice stated quietly. I spun around, startled, and saw, much to my amazement, that Severus was walking up to me, grinning from ear to ear.

"What the... how is this possible, Severus? You're dead," I pointed out. Severus shrugged.

"Yes, I am," he said simply, but did not explain further.

"But then, does this mean... am I dead too?" I asked hesitantly, even though I thought I knew the answer. Severus gave me an almost pitying look.

"I'm afraid so, Aly," he answered. I swallowed hard. I just didn't want to believe it. My thoughts were disturbed by a harsh cry. I turned and spotted something utterly repulsive on the ground, a few feet away from where we were standing. At first I thought it might be a baby, but it was horribly disfigured.

"What is that?" I demanded quietly, recoiling from it.

"You cannot guess?" Severus asked. I turned back and saw that he was looking curiously at me.

"Did you know what he did to me?" I mumbled. I thought I saw a fleeting shadow cross my brother's face, but it was gone so quickly that I couldn't be sure.

"I suspected," he replied grimly. "It was the only thing I could think of that might explain why he seemed so keen to keep you out of harm's way, and why he reacted the way he did whenever anything threatened you."

I risked another glance at the baby-like form. It was still whimpering piteously. Repulsed, I turned away.

"Alysia? Severus?" a voice behind me asked. I spun around and saw Mum standing there, looking slightly surprised.

"Mum!" I cried, running up to her and hugging her as tightly as I could. "I've missed you so much!"

"I missed you too, honey," she answered softly, returning the embrace. After what felt like many lifetimes, I pulled slowly away from her, and saw that her eyes were glistening happily.

"Let's go," she murmured, taking my hand.


	30. Epilogue

**Sigh. I can't believe this story is now officially finished. I hope you liked it. (I was originally going to have another chapter after this one, but it just seemed to be dragging the story out a bit too much. Maybe I'll post it as a one-shot at some point in the distant future, if you want me to)**

**Well, I'll let you get on with reading it now :P**

**Epilogue**

"Alysia!" Rabastan cried desperately as he leaned over his wife's lifeless body. There was still the tiniest glimmer of fierceness in her now-vacant eyes, but the sparkle that had once entranced him was gone forever. He could not bear to look at her, and yet, he could not bring himself to look away.

"No! No! No!" he sobbed, running his fingers gently through her long, black hair. His eyes eventually fell on the tiny locket that dangled from the chain around her neck. In his despair he pulled her up and clutched her close to his chest, letting out a long, agonised scream. The sight brought a tear to every Death Eater present. Even Bellatrix let out a heart-broken sob.

Finally, Rabastan pulled his wife's body off the ground and carried it towards the castle. It was all he could do to stop himself cursing everyone he saw as her arm fell from her side, completely limp. There were fearful gasps as he entered the Great Hall, and several Order members raised their wands at him, but lowered them almost instantly, as they saw the anguish on his face, and the lifeless woman hanging precariously from his arms. He carefully set her down on the floor, next to a red-haired young man who looked no older than nineteen or twenty, before turning to face the crowd.

"Voldemort is dead," he announced in a cracked voice, before burying his face in his hands. He could not control his grief any longer. The war was officially over, but for Rabastan Lestrange, the price of this ending had been much too high.

* * *

It was not until almost three years later that Rabastan could bring himself to visit Alysia's grave. With dread in his heart, he led Angelica to the final resting-place of her mother. The two of them stood side by side as Rabastan silently read the words on his wife's tombstone.

_In Loving Memory of Alysia Diana Lestrange  
__Born on the 28__th__ of July, 1962  
__Cruelly taken from us on the 30__th__ of June, 1997  
__  
__Beloved daughter of Eileen and Tobias Snape  
__Adored sister of Severus Snape  
__Sorely missed by her loving husband, Rabastan Lestrange  
__And their daughter, Angelica_

"Why are we here, Daddy?" little Angelica asked. Rabastan looked down at his daughter, tears stinging his eyes.

"We're here to visit your mother," he replied heavily.

"Oh," Angelica said quietly. She had been told many times that her mother and uncle had died a few weeks after she was born, but Rabastan had not told her any more than that. She was much too young to know the details. "Daddy, why are you sad?" she asked. Rabastan had to smile at her innocence.

"I am sad because I miss your mother very much," he explained. Angelica smiled up at him and tightened her grip on his hand.

"Don't be sad, Daddy. You still have me," she said, her pale blue eyes gazing earnestly at him. Rabastan allowed himself to chuckle slightly.

"You're right, Angelica. I do still have you," he replied softly. He sighed. "Let's go.'

As he spun around, he was mildly surprised to see his older brother standing behind him. He had not spoken to Rodolphus since his wedding day.

"We all miss her, Rabastan," Rodolphus confessed sadly. "But she was an incredibly intelligent woman. She surely must have known what she was doing, and the consequences."

Rabastan struggled to suppress his rage. So, his older brother thought that it was Alysia's own fault that she had been killed?

"She was never one to stand around doing nothing, Rodolphus," he answered, trying to keep his voice steady. "Her brother had just been killed. She had every right to do what she did, even if she knew her chances of survival were slim at best."

"For the love of Merlin, Rabastan, we were all in the same bloody boat!" Rodolphus exclaimed. "It's just that Alysia was braver than the rest of us. She actually tried to stand up to him, whereas the rest of us, too concerned with our own selfish desires to survive, simply did as we were told, no questions asked!"

"Are you talking about my Mummy?" Angelica asked innocently, interrupting the argument that was beginning to show signs of escalating dangerously. Rodolphus looked down at the little girl, and smiled at her.

"Yes little one, we are," he answered. Angelica beamed at them.

"I look just like her, Daddy says, except my hair is curly, and hers was straight," she announced proudly. Rodolphus chuckled nervously, feeling slightly ashamed of his accusatory comments.

"Yes, you do look a lot like her," he answered. With one last, awkward look at his younger brother, Rodolphus turned and left.

* * *

Angelica Lestrange strolled slowly along, finding it hard to avoid bumping against the enormous crowd. Diagon Alley seemed unusually busy today. She grinned as she approached Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, but still had to fight the butterflies in her stomach.

"Don't be silly, Angelica," she scolded herself. "It's just another job interview. You'll be fine." She took a deep breath and entered the overcrowded shop. A quick glance at her watch told her she was fifteen minutes early. '_Perfect,_' she thought, '_that gives me time to have a look around._'

As Angelica browsed the shelves, she couldn't help but notice that the atmosphere in the shop suddenly became very tense. Slightly puzzled, she turned away from the shelf and looked around. When she saw a vaguely familiar man just inside the doorway, she understood.

"Hello Angelica. I didn't expect to find you here," he said quietly, ignoring the furious stares from the other customers. Angelica bit her lip.

"Hello, Uncle Rodolphus," she replied nervously. She had not seen her father's brother since she was three years old, but the memory of his face was clear in her mind. She noticed that his hair had gone almost completely grey since then. She fiddled anxiously with a tiny locket hanging from her neck as her uncle continued to stare at her.

"Can I help you, Rodolphus?" someone behind him asked quietly. Angelica was immensely relieved to see a tall, blonde man with a pointed chin enter the shop, followed closely by his wife and young son. Rodolphus spun around to face him, looking slightly haughty, although surprised.

"You know Rabastan's reasons for cutting you out of Angelica's life, Rodolphus. I think it best if you respect his decision," Draco Malfoy said coldly.

Rodolphus looked for a moment like he was going to argue. Draco gave him a challenging look, and he thought better of it, choosing instead to shrug his shoulders and leave. Draco walked up to Angelica, looking concerned.

"Are you okay, Angelica?" he asked. The nineteen-year-old witch smiled and nodded. "I'll be telling your father about this. He ought to know that Rodolphus approached you," he added. Angelica opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted by someone calling her name.

"Angelica Lestrange? They're ready for you now," one of the assistants called. Angelica grinned.

"Wish me luck, Scorp," she said, stooping down to hug Draco's eleven-year-old son, before following the assistant to a small office at the back of the shop, where two men waited for her.

"Hello, Angelica. I'm George Weasley," one of the men said, as he stood up to shake her hand. "And this is Lee Jordan," he added, pointing to the man next to him. Angelica sat down opposite them, brushing her long, black curls back impatiently.

"That's a pretty locket," Lee commented, making small talk. Angelica smiled and began to relax.

"It was my mother's," she responded awkwardly.

* * *

Rabastan glanced at the clock and frowned.

"Where has she got to?" he asked himself anxiously. "She was supposed to be home nearly an hour ago."

At that moment, he heard the front door click open. He walked out into the hallway, his arms folded and a stern expression on his face.

"Where have you been, Angelica? I was starting to worry," he demanded. His daughter gave him a sheepish grin.

"Sorry Dad. I ran into Ted and Victoire, and I guess I lost track of the time," she explained.

"Honestly, Angelica, I swear you take more after your Uncle Severus than you do your own mother! He..." he began.

"...could never simply be on time, either. I heard you the first five million times, Dad," Angelica finished, rolling her eyes. Rabastan relaxed slightly.

"So, how did it go?" he asked gingerly. He hoped Angelica's interview had gone well; she would be a complete mess for days if it hadn't. Angelica beamed at him.

"I got the job! Mr Weasley and Mr Jordan said I'd be perfect!" she announced excitedly. "They want me to start tomorrow!"

"Congratulations, Angelica. I'm really proud of you," Rabastan replied. "However, if my information is correct, Theodore Lupin and Victoire Weasley aren't the only people you ran into today." Angelica's smile faltered.

"Uncle Draco told you, didn't he?" she mumbled, staring at her feet.

"Surprisingly enough, no," Rabastan replied. Angelica looked up at her father, clearly confused. "I met Mr and Mrs Potter, while you were _losing track of the time_. Mr Potter spotted Rodolphus coming out of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, and when he himself entered the shop not two minutes later, he heard one of the assistants calling your name," he explained. "As I understand, Mr Malfoy and Mr Potter had quite a nasty confrontation. It probably would have come to blows were it not for their wives' intervention."

Angelica cringed. She had babysat the Potter children numerous times, and knew that Mr Potter did not think very highly of Draco Malfoy. And that was putting it _very_ politely. If the two men met in the street and did _not_ have a nasty argument, it would be a source of great surprise.

"But enough of that," Rabastan said suddenly. "We must celebrate. Go upstairs and change. Be back down here in ten minutes."

Angelica grinned and raced up the stairs two at a time.

"Only ten minutes, mind," Rabastan called after her.


End file.
